Blood repellant and antimicrobial finish has been applied to 100% cotton fabrics used for surgical gowns, bed linens and drapes to reduce the surgical site infections. The extract of cinnamon and clove oil was applied to the fabric for imparting antimicrobial activity by pad-dry-cure method. The cinnamon and clove oil treated fabric was then imparted blood repellency through two different techniques, namely by treatment with fluoro polymer (3%, 4% and 5% owf) using pad-dry-cure method and by ‘sputter deposition of Teflon’ technique using argon plasma. The antimicrobial activity is found to be higher for Teflon deposited fabric than for the fluoropolymer finished fabric. Blood repellency increases with the higher concentration of fluoropolymer and the highest repellency for the Teflon deposited fabric is observed at 80W power and 20 min exposure in the plasma chamber.
Key words: Antimicrobial textiles, Blood repellency, Cotton, Fluoropolymer, cinnamon and clove oil, Sputter deposition, Teflon
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