Durable antibacterial and hydrophobic polyester fibres and wearable textiles

Abstract

This work reports a novel environmentally friendly antibacterial and hydrophobic polyester [polyethylene terephthalate (PET)] fibre finished with ZnO containing quaternary ammonium compounds (QACsZnO). The results show that the QACsZnO can be coated onto the PET fibre surface, imparting perdurable antibacterial activity. It was found that the hydrophobicity and mechanical properties were improved greatly after the PET fibre was finished with QACsZnO. Additionally, the QACsZnO-finished PET fibre exhibited good antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. Moreover, QACsZnO-finished PET fibre was still capable of restoring its hydrophobicity, and it did not induce damage after dry-cleaning. These remarkable features of QACsZnO-finished PET fibre that were suitable for development of multi-function and textile applications on the market had increased dramatically.