Antimicrobial Property of Plasma Treated Bamboo Fabric Imparted with Combinatorial Herbal Extract

The present study focused on DC air plasma exposed on bamboo fabric finished with antimicrobial agents. The knitted bamboo fabrics were exposed to plasma treatment at optimized conditions to increase the hydrophilicity. The changes in the hydrophilic properties, chemical and physical modification of the plasma treated fabric were studied using the AATCC 79, FTIR and FESEM respectively. The combinatorial herbal powder was subjected to different solvent extracts and their antimicrobial activities against test pathogens were studied. The ethanolic herbal extract showed higher activity against E. coli (12 mm), S. aureus (14 mm), A .niger (4mm), C. albicans (16mm), P. varians (9mm) and T. viride (7mm). The antimicrobial efficiency of the ethanolic herbal extract finished on plasma pre-treated bamboo fabric was evaluated using AATCC methods. The treated fabric showed a better antimicrobial activity against the test pathogens. Effectiveness of the antimicrobial finished fabrics was assessed using wash durability analysis which proved that the antimicrobial activity was retained till 25 washes. The results confirmed that the plasma treated antimicrobial coated fabrics showed the higher hydrophilicity as well as the combinatorial herbal extract could act against the test pathogens.