Abstract
Environmentally and human compatible chitosan were pretreated on cotton fabrics which were then dyed with 100% persimmon juice. The chitosan concentration was 1% and the chitosan types were high molecular weight chitosan (1980cps), low molecular weight chitosan (18첸), chitosan oligomer and water soluble chitosan. The properties of the fabric surfaces, the dyeabilities, the color fastnesses, the antibacterial activities, the strengths, the elongations and the drape stiffnesses were evaluated. The properties of the chitosanpretreated, persimmon juice-dyed cotton fabrics (CLP) were compared to those of the untreated (CN), chitosan treated (CL) and persimmon juice-dyed fabrics (CP). The results were as follows. The fibers extruded from the surface of CN decreased on CP. The air between the fibers within CN were substituted by chitosan solution or persimmon juiceand decreased within CLP according to SEM observations. The effects of chitosan treatment, the chitosan molecular weights and the degrees of deacetylation of chitosan on the dyeabilities of the persimmon juice-dyed cotton fabric were not distinct. The curing after chitosan padding improved the dyeabilities of CLP compare to noncuring. The strengths of CP decreased and those of CL increased, compared to those of CN. The strengths of CLP were greater than those of CP. The elogations of CP and CL were greater than those of CN. The strengths and elongations of CLP were greater than those of CN. The chitosan treatments improved the strengths but not the elongations. The drape stiffnesses of CL, CP and CLP were greater than those of CN. The antibacterial activites of chitosan pretreated, persimmon juice-dyed cotton fabrics against Staphylococcus aureus were increased by more than 98% by persimmon juice.