Grafting of chitosan as a biopolymer onto wool fabric using anhydride bridge and its antibacterial property

Weak binding of chitosan on the wool constitutes the main problem in its application. In this paper, the surface modification of wool fabric using anhydrides to graft the chitosan was studied. Weight gain, antibacterial and antifelting properties of the chitosan grafted-acylated wool fabric were investigated. Wool fabrics were acylated with two anhydrides, succinic anhydride (SA) and phthalic anhydride (PA), using different solvents (dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF)). The effects of anhydrides, solvents, anhydride concentration, liquor ratio (L:R) and reaction time on acylation of wool were investigated. Chitosan was grafted to the acylated wool and the effects of pH, chitosan concentration, and reaction time on chitosan grafting of acylated wool were evaluated. Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), differential scanning colorimetry (DSC) and weight gain analyses provided evidence that chitosan was grafted on to the acylated wool through the formation of new covalent bonds. The grafted samples have antibacterial potential due to existence of the antibacterial property of chitosan. In addition, the chitosan grafted-acylated wool samples have antifelting property. The findings of this research support the potential production of new environmentally friendly textile fabrics.