Health and hygiene are the primary requirements for human beings to live comfortably and work with maximum efficiency. The present study focuses on the development of herbal chitosan nanocomposite finishes for protective clothing. The medicinal plant (Azadirachta indica) was selected, and bioactive compounds were extracted. The neem chitosan nanocomposites were prepared using multiple emulsion/ solvent evaporation method. The neem chitosan nanocomposites were finished on to 100% cotton fabrics using pad dry cure method. The antibacterial activity of the fabrics were assessed using standard AATCC 100 and 147 test methods. The neem chitosan nanocomposites treated fabrics showed an increased antimicrobial activity than the other fabric treatments (neem chitosan composite, neem, and chitosan). The scanning electron microscopic results showed that the nanocomposites were essentially spherical in the size range of 50-100nm.
The use of materials created through nanotechnology is expected to dramatically increase over the next few years. Nanotechnology can provide high durability for fabrics because nanoparticles have a large surface area to volume ratio and high surface energy, thus presenting better a±nity for fabrics, leading to an increase in durability of the function. In this study herbal plants such as Curcuma longa and Datura metel were selected, and bioactive compounds were extracted and standardized. Nanoparticles of the medicinal plant extracts were prepared by coacervation method using bovine serum albumin, cross-linked with gluteraldehyde and¯nished on 100% pure cotton by pad-dry-cure method. The antimicrobial activities of the nanoparticlestreated cotton fabrics were found to be higher than that of the control fabrics in both AATCC 147 and Hohestein Challenge test.
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