Durably antibacterial cotton fabrics coated by protamine via Schiff base linkages

The development of antibacterial cotton fabrics with an overall performance is critical but remains challenging. In this study, we propose a facile method to prepare durable antibacterial cotton fabric without significant sacrifices of wearing comfortability. Cotton fabric is firstly oxidated to obtain dialdehyde groups, then treated with PM molecules to establish a PM coating on the fiber surfaces via Schiff base linkages. The resultant cotton fabrics show durably antibacterial activity, realizing high bacterial reduction rates against both E. coli and S. aureus higher than 99.99 %, and offering remarkable durabilities tolerable 50 washing cycles and 500 rubbing times. These fabrics also show reliable safety for human skin that proofed by a series of cytotoxicity tests with positive results. This work demonstrates an example of versatile strategy to impart effective antibacterial function with durable activity to cotton textiles, showing great potential for practical applications in functional textile fields.

Automated summary

This study presents a simple method to prepare durable antibacterial cotton fabric without sacrificing wearing comfortability. The cotton fabric is oxidized to obtain dialdehyde groups and then treated with PM molecules to establish a PM coating on the fiber surfaces. The resulting fabrics show durably antibacterial activity with high bacterial reduction rates against E. coli and S. aureus, and they also exhibit remarkable durabilities after multiple washing cycles and rubbing times. The fabrics are proven to be safe for human skin through cytotoxicity tests. This research demonstrates a versatile strategy to impart effective and durable antibacterial function to cotton textiles, showing great potential for practical applications in functional textile fields.