Antibacterial Cotton Finish Using Green Tea Leaf Extracts Interacted with Copper

摘要

Majority of the antimicrobial compounds used for treating textiles are synthetic based and are not considered to be environmental friendly. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to use the extracts from leaves of edible Green tea showing antibacterial properties to treat textile materials. The extracts (GTE) were made interacted with copper (GTC) in the copper vessel for enhancing the antibacterial properties. The extracts were treated onto cotton fabrics using a standard Pad-dry-cure method with and without the cross-linker (Citric acid). Using the standard Agar diffusion test the antibacterial activity and durability of GTE and GTC treated cotton was evaluated before and after wash. After 10 washes, the directly applied GTE and GTC extracts (without cross-linker) do not show much activity (<25% bacterial reduction) when compared to that of GTC treated cotton with citric acid (>50% bacterial reduction). Antibacterial textile finish using the eco-friendly leaf extracts of Green tea could have the possibility to eliminate the properties of bacteria gaining resistance against the oral prophylactic antibiotic drugs.