Antibacterial Functionalization and Simultaneous Coloration of Wool Fiber with the Application of Plant-Based Dyes

Abstract

High susceptibility of wool toward bacterial growth owing to proteinous nature and moisture retention ability leads to need for antibacterial functionalization of wool to cure the resulting deterioration. Antibacterial colored wool was designed via application of Terminalia chebula, Alkanna tinctoria, and Tagetes erecta natural dyes. Characteristics in terms of color and antibacterial activity were compared to correlate coloring compound’s effect on characteristics of dyes and, both T. chebula and A. tinctoria dyes inferred themselves actively resisting bacterial growth while T. erecta was not efficient against bacterial strains. Colorful shades of good color and fastness properties were obtained from selected natural dyes on woolen yarn. Results show Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus (gram positive) were highly resisted by the effect of T. chebula and A. tinctoria dyes, and T. chebula among them proved best in terms of both color characteristics and antibacterial potential.

Keywords

• natural dyes
• wool
• coloration
• antibacterial
• fastness
• coloring compounds