Improving dyeability and antibacterial activity of Lawsonia inermis L on jute fabrics by chitosan pretreatment

Abstract

This paper investigates the dyeing and antimicrobial properties of jute fiber with natural dye henna after treatment with biopolymer chitosan. The treatment was carried out by applying chitosan solution on the fiber followed by dyeing with henna dye. Then, the performance was assessed in terms of the depth of shade by measuring K/S value and colorfastness properties of chitosan-treated dyed fabric samples. It has been observed that chitosan-treated fabrics showed a higher depth of shade compared to untreated dyed samples. As far as colorfastness is concerned, the dyed samples with and without chitosan pretreatment exhibited almost similar dry rubbing fastness. However, chitosan-treated fabrics showed inferior fastness ratings for wet rubbing and washing, particularly for the fabrics with higher chitosan concentrations. Again, the experimental results demonstrated that the combination of chitosan and henna dye can significantly enhance the antibacterial activity of jute fiber against the organism Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. These findings suggest that the application of chitosan and natural dye from henna onto jute fiber is an approach to get the desired dyeing and antibacterial property.