This paper reports electrokinetic phenomena concerning the properties of textile fabrics that are crucial for dyeing and finishing processes. These interface phenomena influence the adsorption of surfactants, optical brighteners, dyes and finishing agents due to interaction forces between the fibre surface and solution. Zeta potential, isoelectric point, point of zero charge and the amount of surface charge of standard adjacent fabrics (cotton, wool, viscose rayon, polyamide, polyester and acrylic) have been determined. Electrokinetic potential was measured by a method involving streaming potential/current using an electrokinetic analyser. The specific amount of surface charge was calculated by a back‐titration method.

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Chitosan is an environmentally friendly agent that is used to achieve the antimicrobial properties of textiles. Nowadays, the binding of chitosan to the textiles has been thoroughly researched due to the increasing demands on the stability of achieved properties during the textile care processes. Most crosslinking agents for chitosan are not safe for humans or environment, such as glutaric aldehyde (GA) and formaldehyde derivatives. Eco-friendly polycarboxyilic acids (PCAs) are usually used in after-treatment. In this work, chitosan powder was dissolved in citric acid with sodium hydrophosphite (SHP) as a catalyst. Standard cotton (CO) and polyester/cotton (PES/CO) fabrics were pretreated in 20% NaOH, similar to mercerization, in order to open the structure of the cotton fibers and hydrolyze polyester fibers, continued by finishing in the gelatin chitosan bath. Afterwards, the hot rinsing process, followed by drying and curing, closed the achieved structure. The main objective was to achieve durable antimicrobial properties to multiple maintenance cycles CO and PES/CO fabric in order to apply it in a hospital environment. The characterization of fabrics was performed after treatment, first and fifth washing cycles according ISO 6330:2012 by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), electrokinetic analysis (EKA), by the determination of tensile properties and mechanical damage (wear), and the antimicrobial activity. The application of 20% NaOH led to the swelling and mercerization of cotton cellulose, and hydrolysis of polyester, resulting in better mechanical properties. It has been confirmed that the chitosan particles were well implemented into the cotton fiber and onto to the polyester component of PES/CO blend. The presence of chitosan was confirmed after five washing cycles, but in lower quantity. However, achieved antimicrobial activity is persistent.

Activated natural zeolite clinoptilolite is microporous hydrated aluminosilicates crystals with well-defined structures containing AlO 4 and SiO 4 tetrahedral linked through the common oxygen atoms. It is to point out that zeolites act as strong adsorbents and ion-exchangers but having many other useful properties. Due to its cationexchange ability, zeolites have catalytic properties and, for that, multiple uses in medicine and industry, agriculture, water purification and detergents. Zeolites are nontoxic substance, excellent for UVR and microbes protection, for proteins and small molecules such as glucose adsorption. In this paper its positive effect on the metabolism of living organisms and its anticancerogenic, antiviral, antimetastatic and antioxidant effect. The activity of natural zeolite as natural immunostimulator was presented as well as its help in healing wounds. Therefore, the present paper is an attempt to modify cotton (by mercerization) and polyester (by alkaline hydrolysis) fabrics for summer clothing with addition of natural zeolite nanoparticles for achieving UV and antibacterial protective textiles.

The primary cause of skin cancer is believed to be a long exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation (UV-R) crossed with the amount of skin pigmentation in the population. It is believed that in childhood and adolescence 80% of UV-R gets absorbed, whilst in the remaining 20% gets absorbed later in the lifetime. This suggests that proper and early photoprotection may reduce the risk of subsequent occurrence of skin cancer. Textile and clothing are the most suitable interface between environment and human body. It can show UV protection, but in most cases it does not provide full sun screening properties. UV protection ability highly depends on large number of factors such as type of fibre, fabric surface and construction, type and concentration of dyestuff, fluorescent whitening agent (FWA), UV-B protective agents, as well as nanoparticles, if applied. Based on electronically excited state by energy of UV-R (usually 340-370 nm), the molecules of FWAs show the phenomenon of fluorescence giving to white textiles high whiteness of outstanding brightness by reemitting the energy at the blue region (typically 420-470 nm) of the spectrum. By absorbing UV-A radiation, optical brightened fabrics transform this radiation into blue fluorescence, which leads to better UV protection. Natural zeolites are rock-forming, microporous silicate minerals. Applied as nanoparticles to textile surface, it scatters the UV-R resulting in lower UV-A and UV-B transmission. If applied with other UV absorbing agents, e.g. FWAs, synergistic effect occurs. Silicones are inert, synthetic compounds with a variety of forms and uses. It provides a unique soft touch, is very resistant to washing and improves the property of fabric to protect against UV radiation. Therefore, the UV protective properties of cotton fabric achieved by light conversion and scattering was researched in this paper. For that purpose, the stilbene-derived FWAs were applied on cotton fabric in wide concentration range without/with the addition of natural zeolite or silicone- polydimethylsiloxane. UV protection was determined in vitro through ultraviolet protection factor. Additionally, the influence to fabric whiteness and hand was researched

High crystallinity leads to low hydrophilicity of fabric made of (poly(ethylene terephthalate)) fibers (PET) causing problems in finishing, washing, and dyeing processes. To improve these properties, the surface of PET fibers is usually modified by hydrolysis. Alkaline hydrolysis is a conventional process usually performed at a temperature higher than 100 °C for more than 1 h. However, the use of strong alkali and high processing temperatures (>100 °C) can lead to fabric damage and a negative impact on the environment. Therefore, in this paper, the possibility of hydrolysis of the PET fibers in the fabric in a sustainable, energy-efficient process was researched. The influence of low temperature (60–100 °C) and an accelerator (a cationic surfactant HDTMAC) to PET alkaline hydrolysis was studied through weight loss, the loss in breaking force, and fiber morphology. The kinetics of PET dissolution in 1.5 mol cm−3 NaOH at low temperature with and without the addition of HDTMAC was determined and the activation energy was calculated according to the theoretical model. It has been confirmed that PET hydrolysis can be carried out in 1.5 mol cm−3 NaOH with the addition of HDTMAC as an accelerator at 80 °C for 10 min. This process is more economically and energetically acceptable than the conventional process, and is therefore more sustainable.

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