Development of sustainable herbal antimicrobial finish for organic cotton fabrics using Millettia pinnata L. and Pedalium murex

Venkatraman, Prabhuraj D ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4290-4510, Sayed, Usha, Parte, Sneha and Korgaonkar, Swati (2021) Development of sustainable herbal antimicrobial finish for organic cotton fabrics using Millettia pinnata L. and Pedalium murex. In: 6th Green and Sustainable Chemistry Conference, 16 November 2021 - 18 November 2021, Online. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The recent global pandemic has raised awareness of hygiene and increased the need to control the spread of infection through textiles. The textile industry professionals and academics have focussed on developing various antimicrobial and antiviral compounds for textiles. In addition, the use of plant-based antimicrobial compounds is environmentally safe when compared with synthetic chemicals. In this study, we report the extraction of nano-emulsion using a combination of herbal oil - milletia pinnata L., curry leaf, coconut oil and the other combination using pedalium murex, curry leaf, and coconut oil mixture. The oils were extracted using the solvent extraction method, which offered a good yield of 92%. The different oil ratios [1:1 and 1:2] have been extracted and analysed for their effectiveness. Thermal stability (50-60°C) and pH [5-6] was determined to identify the best possible add-on for the chosen fabric structure. 100% organic cotton woven fabrics were treated with herbal nano-emulsion using exhaust method and evaluated for its antimicrobial efficacy [AATCC 100] before and after 10 washes with gram-positive [MRSA – Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis] and gram-negative bacteria – [Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae]. The performance properties of the above-finished fabrics were also evaluated. Antimicrobial results reveal a clear zone of inhibition when treated with both the herbal extracts [Millettia pinnata L. and Pedalium murex], suggesting that herbal nano-emulsions studied in this work is a potential antimicrobial finish for cotton textiles that is sustainable and environmentally safe to use and is biodegradable after usage.