Preparation and properties of multi-functional cotton fabric treated by gallnut extract

Aqueous extract of gallnut is well known to have remarkable antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Gallnut is expected to be a safe antibacterial agent for textile application because it is a non-toxic natural substance. Thus, we applied gallnut extract to cotton fabrics using an infrared dyeing machine and a pad-dry-cure process, in order to develop multi-functional clothing material with no harmful side effect. Through this study, we found the optimum condition (via a pad-dry-cure process at 120℃/15 min) for the gallnut extract treatment of cotton fabrics. The surface appearance, mechanical properties, antibacterial ability, and antioxidant performance of the treated cotton fabrics were thoroughly investigated. Consequently, it was found that antibacterial and antioxidant cotton fabrics were obtained via the gallnut extract treatment.