A facile and scalable strategy for fabricating bio-based photodynamic antimicrobial nonwoven eco-textiles

Abstract

Frequent public health incidents have sounded the alarm for personal protection, and the massive consumption of petroleum-based personal protective equipment (PPE) has imposed a heavy burden on nature, making the development of efficient and environmentally friendly protective textiles imperative. Hence, with the principle of sustainability and continuous manufacture, a fully bio-based photodynamic nonwoven eco-textile was fabricated by marine renewable resource chitosan and agricultural waste silkworm excrement. Quaternized chitosan was firmly bonded to cotton fibers by the covalent cross-linking of citric acid, and silkworm excrement pigments were attached to the surface of cationic fibers by the plant dyeing method. Remarkably, photodynamic eco-textiles exhibited superior all-weather antimicrobial properties, eliminated 99.99% of MRSA within 15 min under simulated daylight conditions, killed 99% within 30 min under simulated cloudy conditions, and achieved 90% inhibition within 30 min under simulated office light conditions. Photodynamic eco-textiles featured outstanding anti-bacterial durability, maintaining more than 90% anti-bacterial efficiency after the daily simulation of light, washing, and abrasion. Moreover, photodynamic eco-textiles possessed superior wearing comfort, UV absorption (UPF > 40%), and biocompatibility. Photodynamic eco-textiles were in line with the concept of eco-friendly and sustainable development from the source to waste, especially the various post-processing solutions including soil degradation and reuse after disinfection, which were anticipated to be applied in the massive production of next-generation photodynamic textiles.