Functional Military Textile: Plasma-Induced Graft Polymerization of DADMAC for Antimicrobial Treatment on Nylon-Cotton Blend Fabric

In this study, diallyldimethylammonium chloride (DADMAC), a quaternary ammonium salt monomer, is graft polymerized on 50-50 Nylon-Cotton (NyCo) standard military fabric using atmospheric pressure glow discharge plasma to impart self-detoxification capability. Atmospheric pressure plasma is used to induce free radical chain polymerization of the DADMAC monomer to introduce a graft polymerized network on the fabric with durable antimicrobial properties. Pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (PETA) is used as a cross-linking agent to obtain a highly cross-linked, durable polymer network. The presence of polyDADMAC on the fabric surface is confirmed using acid dye staining, SEM, and TOF-SIMS. Antibacterial performance is investigated using standard AATCC Test Method 100 for both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Results show 99.9 % reduction in the bacterial activities of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus.