2.1 Sample material and chemicals
Bleached and desized cotton fabric (No. 400; plain woven 98 g/m2) was purchased from Testfabrics Inc. (West Pittston, PA). Chestnut-shells (Castanea crenata) containing inner and outer shells were provided by a chestnut processing company ‘Albam Story’ in Gongju, South Korea. Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, sodium carbonate, gallic acid (≥ 97%), and (+)-catechin hydrate (≥ 98%) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Korea (Seoul, South Korea). Free radical DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) was purchased from Alfa Aesar (MA, USA), and all reagents were used as received without further purification.
2.2 Extraction from chestnut shells
The nature of solvent may significantly affect the amount of extracted polyphenols, as demonstrated previously. In this study, distilled water was used as the solvent, since it is bio-renewable, nontoxic, and effective in extracting various natural compounds from chestnut shells due to its high polarity (Ham et al. 2015; Cacciola et al. 2020). The extraction process is described as follows. First, chestnut shells were chopped into flakes and dried completely immediately after peeling. Extraction was conducted by immersing 1.6 kg of chestnut shells in 12 L of distilled water, followed by boiling for 4 h at 100 ± 3°C. Subsequently, the crude chestnut shell extract was filtered by filtering paper (185 mmφ) on a vacuum aspiration system, and then concentrated to approximately half the volume through a rotary evaporator. Next, the concentrated extract solution was centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 30 min, and the gel-state sediments were removed. Lastly, the chestnut shell extract was completely dried into a powder using a freeze dryer (FDU-1200, Eyela, Japan). The extraction process is summarized in Fig. 1.
2.3 Fabric finishing process
The cotton fabric was cut into 30 cm ⋅ 30 cm pieces, and each piece was immersed for 30 min (bath ratio = 1:20, bath temperature: 20 ± 5°C) in a container containing the finishing solution, with a designated concentration of the chestnut shell extract in distilled water (2 wt%, 5 wt%, 10 wt%, 15 wt% and 20 wt%). Next, the fabrics dampened with the chestnut shell extract aqueous solution were squeezed using a laboratory padder (DL-2005, Daelim Starlet, Shiheung-si, Korea (pressure: 0.28 MPa)) till the wet pick-up rate reached approximately 100%. Then, the fabrics were completely dried in a convection oven at 85 °C. Subsequently, the fabrics were cured at 160°C for 3 min using a laboratory curing machine (DL-2015, Daelim Starlet, Shiheung-si, Korea), followed by intensive washing with distilled water and tumble drying.
2.4 Analysis of chestnut shell extract
Chestnut shell extract (50 mg) was dissolved in 80% methanol, and this mixture was sonicated for 60 min, followed by vigorous shaking for 60 min. The methanol phase was used to determine the total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity, using the spectrophotometric methods described below. All analyses were conducted using a UV–Vis spectrophotometer (Biomate 5, Thermo Fisher Scientific, MA, USA), and all samples were prepared and analyzed in triplicate.
Total phenolic content: The total phenolic content in the chestnut shell extract was measured by the colorimetric method of Singleton and Rossi (1965). 100 µL of the as-prepared sample solution was added to 0.5 mL of distilled water and mixed well. Subsequently, 100 µL of Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (diluted 1:10 in distilled water) was added to the mixture. The mixture was kept in the dark for 3 min. Then, 1 mL of sodium carbonate (7%) was added, and the mixture was incubated in the dark for 30 min, following which the solution absorbance was measured at 760 nm. The quantitative results were calculated using an analytical curve of gallic acid, and expressed as mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per 1 g of sample (mg GAE/g).
Total flavonoid content: The total flavonoid content in the chestnut shell extract was determined based on the method proposed by Zhishen et al. (1999) with some modifications. The aliquots ranging from 100 to 300 µL of samples were topped-up with methanol to reach 200 µL volume. Then, 1 mL of distilled water and 50 µL of NaNO2 (5 wt%/vol) were added to amber bottles and mixed well. After 6 min, 150 µL of AlCl3⋅6H2O (10 wt%/vol) was added, and after 5 min, 0.5 mL of NaOH (1 mol/L) was added. The solution absorbance was measured immediately at 510 nm. Catechin was used as the standard for the calibration curve, and the results were expressed as mg of catechin equivalent (CE) per 1 g of sample (mg CE/g).
Antioxidant activity: The antioxidant activity was determined by the DPPH assay based on the method proposed by Kim et al. (2014). A 3.75 mL aliquot of 6 × 10− 5 mol/L DPPH methanolic solution was mixed with 250 µL of the sample solution. The DPPH absorbance was monitored at 517 nm after keeping it for 30 min in the dark. Quantification was performed using an ascoibic acid analytical curve, and the results were expressed as mg of ascorbic acid equivalent antioxidant capacity (AAE) per 1 g of sample (mg AAE/g).
2.5 Analysis of finishing solution
The UV–Vis absorbance of the chestnut shell extract aqueous solution for textile finishing was measured with an S-3100 Spectrophotometer (Scinco Co., Ltd., Seoul, Korea) in the wavelength range 200–800 nm.
Rheological measurements for the finishing solution were performed in the steady rate sweep mode on an advanced rheometric expansion system (ARES, Rheometric Scientific, UK).
2.6 Characteristics of finished fabrics
Color changes in the cotton fabrics finished by the chestnut shell extract were investigated using a Datacolor spectrophotometer (Technical Color Solution, Karachi, Pakistan), and the values of the changes in colors (ΔE) were compared using the L*, a*, and b* values.
The add-on (%) of the chestnut shell extract on the cotton fabrics was measured using a weighing method based on the weight changes of the fabric before and after finishing.
Changes in the molecular structures of the cotton fabrics finished by the chestnut shell extract were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The FTIR spectrum analysis device (100 FTIR spectrum, Perkin-Elmer, MA, US) was used at a resolution of 4 cm− 1, and attenuated total reflection (ATR) was used to obtain the results.
The surface morphologies of the cotton fabrics finished by the chestnut shell extract were observed using a high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM, Tescan, Brno, Czech Republic).
The ability of the cotton fabrics finished by the chestnut shell extract to prevent bacterial growth and retention was tested using Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (ATCC 6538; a Gram-positive bacterium) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) (ATCC 4352; a Gram-negative bacterium) cultures according to an established protocol (KS K 0693) expressed by the following equation.
Here, A and B represent the surviving bacterial cells (colony-forming units in mL− 1) on the plates inoculated with a bacterial solution derived from the finished fabric and a control solution derived from untreated fabric, respectively. To identify the antimicrobial ability of the cotton fabrics finished by the chestnut shell extract against laundering, washing cycles were conducted based on KS K ISO 105 C06:2010, A2S (washing temperature: 40 ± 2°C, washing time: 30 min, 0.4% ECE standard solution + 0.1% natrium used, 10 still balls).
The deodorant property of the cotton fabrics finished by the chestnut shell extract was determined against ammonia and acetic acid using a detector tube method. Fabric samples (10 ⋅ 10 cm) were placed in a sealed and air-tight Tedlar bag (5 L). Subsequently, the target gas (100 ppm of ammonia or 50 ppm of acetic acid) was injected into a bag containing 3 L of air. The bags were placed under ambient conditions (21 ± 5 °C) for 2 h, and the gas concentration in the bag was determined using a detector tube. The deodorization rate was calculated as
where A and C represent the gas concentrations in the bag with and without fabric samples, respectively.
The antioxidant ability of the cotton fabrics finished by the chestnut shell extract was measured by the DPPH assay. DPPH is a free radical that can trap other radicals (scavenger radical). Therefore, the rate reduction of a chemical reaction upon the addition of DPPH is used as an indicator of the nature of the radical reaction (Alger 1997). The evaluation was conducted as follows. The fabric (500 mg) was immersed in a container containing 30 mL of 0.15 mM DPPH/methanol solution. The absorbance at 517 nm was measured using an UV–Vis spectrophotometer, after keeping the solutions in the dark for 1 h. Lower absorbance of the solution indicated higher DPPH scavenging ability. The DPPH scavenging ability was calculated as follows.
Here, S and C represent the absorbance of the sample solution from the finished fabric and untreated fabric, respectively.