Development of PET Fabrics Containing N-halamine Compounds with Durable Antibacterial Property

Antibacterial textile materials are widely used in daily life, but most are disposable products with poor antibacterial durability. N-halamine can rapidly inactivate microorganisms, has good stability, and shows great potential applications in antibacterial fabrics. In this study, an N-halamine monomer precursor was synthesized and treated onto PET fabrics. The treated PET fabrics were rendered antibacterial functionality after chlorination, and exhibited good antibacterial properties with inactivation rate of 100.0 % for both E. coli O157:H7 and S. aureus. After 50 wash cycles, the chlorinated treated PET fabrics could maintain 80.0 % antibacterial efficacy, demonstrating durable antibacterial properties. Storage stability and UV irradiation tests showed that the treated PET fabrics had remarkable regenerable properties. The reduction of the breaking strength was within 12 % after treatment, which is in a satisfying range in antimicrobial finishing.