Binding of a quaternary ammonium polymer-grafted-chitosan onto a chemically modified wool fabric surface: Assessment of mechanical, antibacterial and antifungal properties

It is quite challenging to bind any chemical compound or polymer onto a wool fibre surface because of the lack of any functional groups available on its surface. In this work, anionic sulphonate groups were introduced onto a wool fibre surface by grafting with polystyrene sulphonate, which enabled binding of cationic quaternized chitosan by ionic bonding. A bioactive quaternary ammonium polymer, poly[2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium chloride, was grafted onto chitosan to enhance chitosan's limited antimicrobial activity. Two types of wool fabrics, untreated and polystyrene sulphonate grafted, were coated with this quaternized chitosan.