The improvement of the resistance to Candida Albicans and Trichophyton interdigitale of some cotton textile materials by treating with oxygen plasma and chitosan

Abstract

This paper presents the improvement of the resistance to fungi of some cotton textile materials by treating in the manufacturing process with oxygen plasma and chitosan. Thus, after the weaving and preliminary finishing, the fabrics were cleaned in oxygen plasma atmosphere and after dyeing, have been treated with chitosan solution with concentrations of 1 or 5 g/l, in order to confer them antimicrobial properties. The antimicrobial tests were performed with two fungi: Candida albicans and Tricophyton interdigitale. The obtained antimicrobial effect was considerably higher compared to that of the raw fabrics. The colour resistance of dyed fabrics was not significantly influenced by applying the treatment-based chitosan.

Keywords:

• cotton
• chitosan
• oxygen plasma
• Candida albicans
• Trichophyton interdigitale

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.