Nanoarchitectonics of Vanillin-Metal Complexes as Eco-friendly Multifunctional Agents on Cellulosic Fabric

4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde (P-vanillin) is a small organic molecule which is safe to use and explored exponentially in many fields due to its exceptional properties. However, its use in textiles is limited due to its smaller size which leads to leaching of the same. To overcome this drawback, different metal ions such as copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) separately were used to integrate vanillin into cotton (cellulosic) textiles by exhaust method using high temperature high pressure (HT-HP) dyeing machine at 100 ?. Various functional (such as antimicrobial activity, ultra-violet protection factor, fragrance) as well as aesthetic (color strength) properties of the treated cotton fabric were investigated. The finished textiles showed different hue depending on the metal ion used and good antimicrobial properties. Earlier studies showed that vanillin itself does not provide durable functional properties to cellulosic textiles. In the present study, vanillin copper complex (V-Cu) treated cellulosic textiles showed 98% antimicrobial activity followed by vanillin-zinc complex (V-Zn) and vanillin-iron (V-Fe) wherein the antimicrobial activity was 95 and 55%, respectively. Ultra-violet protection factor (UPF) of V-Fe integrated fabric was highest followed by V-Cu and V-Zn treated fabric. The study represented durable functional textiles with specific desirable properties wherein colored fabric with significantly high antimicrobial property can be obtained using V-Cu whereas antimicrobial textile without alteration of shade can be achieved using V-Zn. Formation of metal complex of vanillin within cellulosic structure aided with increased interaction with cellulosic fabric due to various physical bonding increased the wash durability of the finished cotton fabric. V-Cu functionalized fabric showed excellent antimicrobial activity, more than 90% even after 6 launder-o-meter washing. It is evident from the results that the vanillin derivatives have huge potential as ecofriendly multifunctional agents to cellulosic textiles without posing any harmful effects to the environment. [GRAPHICS] .

Automated summary

4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde (P-vanillin) is a small organic molecule that has been extensively explored in various fields due to its safe and exceptional properties. However, its use in textiles is limited by its smaller size, which leads to leaching. In this study, different metal ions such as copper, iron, and zinc were used to integrate vanillin into cotton textiles, resulting in durable functional textiles with desirable properties such as antimicrobial activity and UV protection.