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Bioactive textiles garnered considerable attention during the COVID-19 pandemic owing to their antimicrobial properties.

Virus-caused public health outbreaks represent a serious threat to humans all over the world. The rampant new 2019 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has wreaked havoc on China and the rest of the world since December 2019. Now focus is on effective reduction of corona and other viral and bacterial infections in hospitals, public and private sectors, households, schools, etc. Metal and metal oxide nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, heterostructures, patterned surfaces, and graphene-based materials have shown up to 99.9998% efficacy against bacteria, mold, and viruses. The stability, long shelf life, and robustness of inorganic nanoparticles make them desirable for antimicrobial nanofinishes. These inorganic antimicrobial agents are more stable than organic antibacterial compounds at high temperature and pressure. The high specific surface area-to-volume ratios and unique physicochemical characteristics of nanoparticles are largely responsible for their antibacterial actions. But their immobilization is a huge challenge. To address this issue, NPs were modified with (glycidoxypropyl) trimethoxysilane (GPTS) and applied on cotton fabric. The silane part of GPTS reacted with the NPs under acidic conditions while epoxy reacted with cotton under alkaline conditions. Treated cotton fabric showed good antiviral and antibacterial activity even after severe industrial washing.

Bioactive textiles have garnered considerable attention during the current pandemic COVID-19 owing to their antimicrobial properties. However, the fabrication and utilization of bioactive textiles have imposed a toxic impact on the environment due to the leaching of bioactive agents during laundering. In this study, a novel functional reactive dye was synthesized with an antibacterial agent covalently linked to the triazine reactive group for simultaneous dyeing and finishing of cotton fabric. The synthesized dye was characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and UV-Vis spectroscopy for structure elucidation and confirmation. The dye was applied to cotton fabric using the exhaust dyeing method. The antibacterial efficacy of the powder dye and dyed fabric against Staphylococcus Aureus and Escherichia Coli was estimated according to standard test protocols. The color strength (K/S), colorimetric data (L*, a*, b*, C*, H*) measurement, ultraviolet protection, and colorfastness properties of dyed fabric were also established and evaluated. The synthesized powder dye revealed outstanding antibacterial activity and killed 99.99% of bacteria (E. coli and S. aureus). The dyed fabric showed excellent antibacterial activity before washing and after 20 industrial laundry cycles, there was no significant reduction in antibacterial activity establishing non-leaching of antibacterial agent into environment. The dyed fabrics before and after washing showed excellent ultraviolet protection values (> 50), better dye fixation, and fastness properties. The current study has established a sustainable process to develop bioactive textiles which do not leach bioactive agent in the environment, and it is easily scalable at industrial scale.