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Utilization of eco-friendly bamboo-cotton fibre blends for protective and healthcare textiles

KrishiKosh

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Title Utilization of eco-friendly bamboo-cotton fibre blends for protective and healthcare textiles
 
Creator Sharma, Vandana
 
Contributor Goel, Alka
 
Subject ecosystems, bamboos, cotton, natural fibres, blends, blending, protective clothing, health care, textile fabrics
 
Description Thesis-PhD
Medical textiles are one of the most rapidly expanding sectors in the technical textile market. Medical Textiles are the products and constructions used for medical and biological applications and are used primarily for first aid, clinical and hygienic purposes. An important area of meditech is protective and healthcare textiles which include doctor’s lab coat, surgical gowns, patient dress, cap, masks, etc. All the protective and healthcare textiles require special antimicrobial properties combined with the wearer’s comfort. Antimicrobial textiles are easily finding place in medical industry and mostly disposable and nonwoven antimicrobial textiles are used in medical field. Some of the treatments being used to produce antimicrobial textiles are harmful to the user as the chemicals used in the treatment of textiles tend to cause skin allergy, etc. when developed into apparel and also to our environment because the chemically treated textiles are not reusable. To address the growing concern about personal protection and environment, present study was carried out to develop reusable textiles with inherited antimicrobial and biodegradable properties which will help in reducing the amount of chemicals and trash being disposed off in the landfills. Therefore in order to enhance the antimicrobial and bio-degradable properties of protective and healthcare textiles, two eco friendly fibers i.e., cotton (cellulosic fiber) and bamboo (regenerated cellulosic fiber) were selected for the present study. Till today, cotton being the most used fiber for making protective and healthcare textiles because fabrics developed from cotton fiber combined durability with attractive wearing qualities and comfort. Cotton can withstand repeated washings and is ideal for garments that must be laundered often but it lacks anti-microbial properties. Cotton fiber is easily available in India whereas bamboo fiber is imported from China which made it slightly costlier than cotton. Thus in view of the above stated points, value addition of cotton with bamboo fibers was carried out by using blending technology in order to prepare eco friendly fabrics with inherited antimicrobial properties. Bamboo fiber owns a unique anti-bacterial bio-agent named "bamboo Kun" which combined with bamboo cellulose molecules tightly all along during the process of being produced into bamboo fiber. Bamboo fiber’s natural anti-bacterial function differs greatly from that of chemical antimicrobial treatments. The later often tend to cause skin allergy when added to apparels. Fiber properties were evaluated on the basis of end use of products. Ten ring spun yarn samples made up of cotton and bamboo in different ratios (100:0, 70:30, 50:50, 30:70 and 0:100) i.e. five different ratios of 2-ply warp and five different ratios of single ply weft yarns were prepared. Pure and blended warp and weft yarn samples were tested for estimating the quality of raw material and for controlling the quality of fabric produced. It was found that it is possible to produce good quality, strong and regular yarn with less hairiness through blending of cotton with bamboo. In order to ensure that the product being manufactured will meet the desired quality level and confirm to the laid down specifications for their intended purpose, pure and blended cotton-bamboo woven fabric samples were prepared and tested for various structural, mechanical, aesthetic and comfort properties. All the pure and blended fabrics were found suitable for preparation of different types of protective and healthcare textiles. Assessment of antimicrobial property of pure and blended woven fabrics against commonly found bacteria’s i.e. S. aureus, E. coli and fungi’s i.e. A. niger, T. reesei were also carried out. It was observed that as the contact hours increased, bamboo-cotton blended fabric samples showed better antibacterial and antifungal properties as compared to pure cotton fabric sample. Reduction in the number of bacterial and fungal counts was seen higher among after washed fabric samples than the before washed fabrics. Biodegradability assessment of pure and blended fabrics were also carried out which indicated that as percentage of bamboo increased in fabric samples and as the days increased, the degradation of the fabric samples also increased. Visual assessment of all fabrics was done and the article which secured highest rank for the particular fabric was prepared. Cost of one meter fabric and the articles cost on the basis of the fabric consumed, trimmings used and labour cost were also calculated. Textile customers all over the world are demanding eco-friendly textiles; hence manufacturers and exporters are becoming more aware of the fascination and commercial value of eco textiles. The only way to produce the eco textile product is to turn towards the nature.
Thus the findings of the present research study concluded that pure and blended cotton and bamboo protective and healthcare textile will have great potentials to finds its own place in today’s competitive global market and can fetch good premium price in both domestic and global market as now a day’s customers are giving more importance to health and hygiene.
 
Date 2016-07-25T12:31:43Z
2016-07-25T12:31:43Z
2009-12
 
Type Thesis
 
Identifier http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/69752
 
Language en
 
Format application/pdf
 
Publisher G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand)