Synthesis and characterization of isophorone diisocyanate based environmental friendly antimicrobial polyurethane dispersions for textile applications

Fossil fuel-derived products have produced environmental concerns due to their non-degradability. Now a days, low-cost, renewable, and biodegradable products are being used to replace such non-degradable petroleum-based polymeric materials. So, in this study, soybean oil-derived polyols and sodium alginate have been used to develop antimicrobial polyurethane dispersions for textiles. These polyurethane dispersions have been synthesized via prepolymer method using cycloaliphatic diisocyanate and soybean oil polyol followed by chain extension using different mole ratios of sodium alginate/1,4-butnediol. The route of polyurethane dispersions synthesis was analyzed using Attenuated Total Reflectance based Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FT-IR) spectrophotometer. The physical properties of synthesized dispersions, such as solid contents and stabilities, were studied before applying it on the fabrics. After applying these dispersions on fabrics, the tensile strengths and tear strengths were studied following standard methods for textile testing. The results have shown improvement in the tensile strengths (ISO No. 13934–2) on warp and weft sides of treated fabrics from 857.56 to 938.79 N/m and 599.76 to 755.13 N/m, respectively as concentration of sodium alginate was increased. However, tear strength (ISO 13937–2) gradually decreased on warp and weft sides from 12.82 to 11.52 lbf/in and 10.29 to 9.06 lbf/in, respectively as concentration of sodium alginate was increased. Fastness properties were rated following the ISO methods for washing (3–4/5), rubbing (dry rubbing 3–4/5 and wet rubbing 2–3/4), and pilling test (2/3–4/5) also exhibited promising results when compared with untreated ones. The anti-microbial activities of treated fabrics were also improved as concentration of sodium alginate was increased in polyurethane dispersions. Hence, these polyurethane dispersions can be a suitable environmental friendly alternative to petroleum-based textile finishes.