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Chitosan-modified silica sol applications for the treatment of textile fabrics: a view on hydrophilic, antistatic and antimicrobial properties

  • Original Paper: Functional coatings, thin films and membranes (including deposition techniques)
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Abstract

Chitosan is a natural-based polymer produced by deacetylation of chitin. Chitosan is often claimed to contain antimicrobial properties. The application of modified sol−gel coatings is a well-known technique to realize functional textiles. The combination of both silica sols and chitosan is used in the current study for textile coatings with a view on hydrophilic, antistatic and antimicrobial properties. For this, two different types of chitosan are applied in combination with two different types of silica sols. Both silica sols are water based and of acidic nature, due to the solubility of chitosan in acidic liquids. One silica sol is originated by hydrolysis from tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). For the other silica sol, besides TEOS, additionally 3-glycidyloxypropyltriethoxysilane (GLYEO) is used as a precursor. The solid content of the used sols is around 3 wt%. The concentration of chitosan is set in the range of 0.03−0.3 wt%. Coatings are applied on cotton and polyester fabrics. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used for the investigation of sample topography. Finally, the hydrophilic properties of the fabrics are significantly decreased, while antistatic and antimicrobial properties are hardly affected at all by chitosan.

Highlights

  • Silica/chitosan coatings provide hydrophilic properties to hydrophobic textiles, such as polyester.

  • Silica/chitosan coatings provide hydrophobic properties to hydrophilic textiles, such as cotton.

  • The hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties of textiles can be switched.

  • An influence on the bacterial growth can be stated, however, with no significant antibacterial effect.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mr. Thomas Heistermann and Dr. Thomas Grethe for their help in the lab and many helpful discussions. Some presented results are part of the master thesis of Gaoshi Chen performed at the Hochschule Niederrhein (Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology) in summer 2018.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology, Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, Webschulstr. 31, 41065, Mönchengladbach, Germany

    Gaoshi Chen & Boris Mahltig

  2. Institut für Lebensmitteltechnologie und Lebensmittelchemie, Technische Universität Berlin, Gustav-Meyer Allee 25, 13355, Berlin, Germany

    Hajo Haase

Authors
  1. Gaoshi Chen
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  2. Hajo Haase
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  3. Boris Mahltig
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Correspondence to Boris Mahltig.

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By this I state, as the corresponding author, that this paper does not disclose any information of potential conflicts of interest and does not contain any research involving human participants and/or animals. The data shown are originally determined and measured in our laboratories.

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Chen, G., Haase, H. & Mahltig, B. Chitosan-modified silica sol applications for the treatment of textile fabrics: a view on hydrophilic, antistatic and antimicrobial properties. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 91, 461–470 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05046-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-019-05046-8

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