Durable and Regenerable Antibacterial Finishing of Fabrics with a New Hydantoin Derivative

Abstract

Durable and regenerable antibacterial fabrics were prepared by using an innovative chemical technology employing a precursor biocidal agent, dimethylol dimethylhydantoin (DMDMH), in a chemical finishing process. The method resulted in significant add-on rates of hydantoin groups on cellulose and established a durable antimicrobial functionality, once the grafted heterocyclic compounds were chlorinated by diluted chlorine bleaching. Both cotton fabrics and polyester/ cotton fabrics exposed to treatment baths containing from 2 to 10% of DMDMH acquired a powerful inactivating capacity against a wide range of food-borne and water-borne infectious disease agents. The biocidal functions are regenerable by regular laundry exposure to chlorine bleach and can withstand over 50 standard machine washes without appreciable deterioration. In addition to their powerful antimicrobial efficacy, the fabrics exhibited improved wrinkle resistance and maintained appropriate mechanical properties, making them ideal for medical and hygienic textile applications. In this article we report the results from biocidal tests and durability evaluations and provide data characterizing physical attributes of the treated fabrics.

Biocidal efficacy, biofilm-controlling function, and controlled release effect of chloromelamine-based bioresponsive fibrous materials

“…Following the pioneering work of Gagliardi [20], which described the principles and strategies for imparting antimicrobial activities into fibrous materials, various biocidal agents, including antibiotics [21][22][23], metal ions [24], quaternary ammonium salts [25][26][27], phosphonium compounds [27,28], N-halamines [29,30], etc., have been incorporated into fibrous materials. The antimicrobial activities and mechanisms of these agents differ considerably.…”

Antimicrobial Agents and Applications on Polymeric Materials

“…After repeated exposure to microorganisms or releasing antimicrobial functions, Nhalamines can be recharged through simple exposure to diluted household bleach or halogen releasing agents; thus the biocidal properties of N-halamines could be retained indefinitely 76) . The antimicrobial mechanism of N-halamines against microorganisms is that the positive charged halogen transfers from the N-halamines to the proper reacting site of microorganisms.…”

“…Theoretically, DMDMH is a crosslinking agent for cellulose, and DMDMH treated cotton fabric should have no available site for chlorination. In practice, however, after some loss of formaldehyde during the treatment process, the DMDMH treated cotton fabric was exposed to chlorine bleach and was turned into antimicrobial textiles 79) . A similar finishing process was employed for 3-methylol-2,2,5,5-tetramethylimidazolidin-4-one (MTMIO) and monomethylol-5, 5-dimethylhydantoin (MDMH), which have one methylol group to connect to cellulose.…”

Regenerable Antibacterial Cotton Fabric by Plasma Treatment with Dimethylhydantoin: Antibacterial Activity against S. aureus

“…To achieve safety and health properties, antibacterial cotton fabric is grafted or coated with bactericides (e.g., chitosan, quaternary ammonium salts, chlorine and chloramines, etc.) [7][8][9][10][11], or loaded with heavy metal ions (silver, copper, zinc) [12][13][14][15]. However, it is found that the uptake and durability of these compounds are difficult to manage because they leach from the textiles easily [7].…”