engleski

Antibacterial Properties of Citric Acid Used as Easy Care Finishing Agent

The objective of this study is to evaluate the antibacterial properties of a cotton textile material treated with easy care finishing agent which additionally enhance antibacterial activity. Since it was noticed that some of the agents have negative influence on human health, an eco-friendly agent Citric acid (CA), was used in the study for the purpose of simultaneous easy-care and antimicrobial finishing. Until now, except for the easy-care, CA has been used as binder in flame retardant finishing of cellulose materials (textile, wood and paper) where it has shown excellent results. Determination of antibacterial activity of finished products was performed according to ISO 20743:2005 standard before and after the 5 washing processes. Antibacterial activity was tested against gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria. Bactericidal activity of cotton samples was additionally tested according to EN 1276:1997 under the dirty conditions, according to its practical applications. Antibacterial activity of cotton material treated with CA has shown to be in the same log range with quaternary ammonium (Quat) agent, currently on the market. Obtained results are confirming the possibility of eco-friendly CA application, for the purpose of antimicrobial finishing.

antibacterial finishing ; easy-care finishing ; textiles ; citric acid

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