Smart Options for Functional Finishing of Linen-containing Fabrics

This study examined an innovative approach to functional finishes of linen-containing fabrics. Modification of surface properties along with creation on new interactive site onto the fabrics surfaces, i.e., —COOH or —NH ₂ groups, using oxygen-or nitrogen plasma followed by subsequent treatments with selected ionic dyes, certain metal salts, nano-scale metal or metal oxides, quaternary ammonium salt or nominated antibiotics were carried out to obtain linen-based textiles with upgrade UV-protection and/or antibacterial functions. The results detailed in this paper demonstrate that: (i) post-basic dyeing of oxygen plasma-treated substrates with C.I. Basic Red 24 brings about a significant improvement in the UV-protection and antibacterial activity against the G +ve (Staphylococcus aureus) and G —ve (Escherichia coli) bacteria, (ii) post-reactive dyeing of nitrogen plasma-treated substrates with C.I. Reactive violet 5, results in a remarkable improvement in both UV-blocking and antibacterial properties. (iii) the extent of improvement in the above-mentioned properties of the obtained dyeings is determined by the type of substrate, kind and concentration of the ionic dye, (iv) loading of the metal ions onto the preactivated fabric surfaces upgraded their UV-protection valued as well as their antibacterial efficiency, and the extent of enhancement is governed by the kind and concentration of metal salt as well as type of bacteria, (v) loading of nano-scale Ag, TiO ₂ , or ZrO onto the plasma-treated substrates brings about a remarkable improvement in their functional properties, (vi) loading of the used antibiotics or choline chloride onto the plasma-treated substrates gives rise to better antibacterial ability, (vii) both the UV-protection ability and the antibacterial activity of selected samples were retained even after 10 laundering cycles, and (viii) the options described here for attaining linen-containing fabrics with high functional properties are effective, simple and applicable.