Abstract
Fabric softness and hand feel play a pivotal role in consumer acceptance of textiles. However, the use of conventional textile softeners has raised concerns due to their extensive chemical utilization and associated toxicity. As a result, there is a growing demand for eco-friendly and sustainable alternatives in textile finishing. This study focuses on exploring the potential of Citrullus colocynthis seed oil as a functional and sustainable textile softeners alternative to conventional softeners. The research involves the emulsification of C. colocynthis oil using non-toxic emulsifying agents and its application to cellulosic fabric through a commercial pad-dry-cure method. The treated fabric is then evaluated for its physical, comfort, and functional performance, and compared with fabric treated with commercial fatty acid softeners. The findings demonstrate that the fabric treated with C. colocynthis oil exhibits improved comfort (both stiffness and flexural rigidity) and tear strength with added functional performance. Notably, the treated fabric exhibits a significant improvement in wrinkle resistance, with a remarkable 64o increase. Furthermore, the C. colocynthis oil treatment demonstrates broad-spectrum antimicrobial efficacy against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. By investigating the potential of natural oils as multifunctional textile finishes, this study contributes to the development of more sustainable and environmentally friendly textile finishing processes. The use of C. colocynthis oil as a natural softener offers advantages in terms of biodegradability, reduced toxicity, and cost-effectiveness. This research represents a significant step towards addressing the environmental impact of textile finishing while maintaining desired fabric quality and performance.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge Mr. Shahzad Khalil, DGM Sapphire Textile Unit-6 for his guidance in commercial application process and donating the fabric for research work. Further, the authors marked “†” have equal contribution where authors marked as “*” have shared contribution on research work.
Funding
This work was supported by the Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) National Research Facilities & Equipment Center (NFEC) Grant funded by the Korean Government (Ministry of Education) (No. 2019R1A6C1010031). This work was partly supported by the GRRC program of Gyeonggi province [GRRC Sungkyunkwan 2017-B03, Development of chemical sensor based on metal oxide materials.
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LN conceptualize and visualization, methodology and formal Analysis, Data curation, writing original draft and editing. Dr. NS Conceptualize and visualization, Methodology and formal Analysis, Data curation, writing original draft and editing and reviewing. Dr. UBH Reviewing and editing. Dr AR Visualization and reviewing. Professor DHY Funding acquisition, investigation, methodology, project administration, resources, supervision, validation and reviewing and editing.
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Noor, L., Humayoun, U.B., Sarwar, N. et al. Towards a greener future: utilization of Citrullus colocynthis seed oil emulsion as sustainable functional soft finish for textiles application. Cellulose 31, 607–622 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-023-05608-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-023-05608-8