Simultaneous dyeing and antibacterial finishing for cotton cellulose using a new reactive dye

Simultaneous dyeing and antibacterial finishing for cotton fabric using a new antibacterial reactive dye having a modified chemical structure to the commercial reactive dye CI Reactive Red 198 were studied. This modification was carried out by replacing metanilic acid in the commercial dye with 4-amino-N-(4,6-dimethylpyrimidin-2-yl)benzenesulfonamide (sulfadimidine). Optimum exhaustion and fixation values were achieved at 60 g/l sodium sulphate and 20 g/l sodium carbonate for both dyes. The modified dye exhibited higher substantivity, exhaustion and fixation efficiency compared to the commercial dye. Antibacterial activities of the dyed samples at different concentrations of both dyes were studied against gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria. The cotton dyed with the modified dye shows higher antibacterial efficacy compared to the dyed cotton fabric using the commercial dye, especially on gram negative (E. coli) bacteria. All the reactive dyeings also exhibited high fastness properties.