Microwave curing for applying polymeric nanocapsules containing essential oils on cotton fabric to produce antimicrobial and fragrant textiles

Application of encapsulated essential oils in the chemical finishing of textiles is rapidly developing because of their versatility and flexibility. In this work, alginate nanocapsules containing peppermint oil were prepared by the microemulsion method and applied on cotton fabric by a microwave curing process. Effective parameters on antimicrobial activity of finished cotton fabric were optimized to obtain a good antimicrobial and fragrant textile. FT-IR spectroscopy and TGA were used to quantify the presence of nanocapsules on the cotton fabric. Also, the surface distribution, attendance and preferred position of the nanocapsules on the textile fibers were investigated by SEM images. The releasing behavior of peppermint oil from the finished cotton fabric in different washing cycles measured by GC-MS analysis indicated that the percent of peppermint oil reached 16 % after 25 washing cycles. Antimicrobial activity of the finished fabric showed 100 % bacterial reduction for both E. coli and S. aureus bacteria in optimum conditions.