Author(s)

Shahba Afaf Farag, Halawa Osama, Ragaei Mohamed, Hashem Mohamed

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Long lasting insect repellent curtain fabrics were developed and characterized. Different types of fabrics which are generally used in manufacture of curtain fabrics were functionalized with monochlorotriazenyl β-cyclodextrin (MCT-β-CD) then treated with different concentration from permethrin to impart the fabric insect repellent properties. These fabrics were 100% cotton, cotton/viscose, cotton/linen, polyester/cotton, polyester/linen and polyester/viscose blend fabrics. The treated curtain fabrics were evaluated for insect repellent retention capacity against mosquitoes. The repellent efficacy comprises the determination of percent mosquitoes repelled, knockdown and killed (mortality) resulting from exposed mosquitoes to the treated fabric. Results obtained shows that, the insect repellent retention capacity of curtain fabrics functionalized with R-β-CD then treated with permethrin depends on the amount of β-CD moieties on the curtain fabrics, type of fabric and permethrin concentration. Higher action is obtained when the fabric was functionalized with 100 g/L, MCT-β-CD in alkaline medium followed by treatment with 15 g/L permethrin. The results show also that, curtain fabric made of cotton/linen shows highest mosquitoes repellent retention capacity and highest resistance against washing compared with 100% cotton or cotton/viscose or polyester based curtain fabrics. The insect repellent treatment of curtain fabrics did not adversely affect the tensile strength or drapability index of curtain fabrics

Cotton, Curtain Fabrics, β-Cyclodextrin, Linen, Insect Repellent Fabric, Polyester, Viscose

S. Afaf Farag, H. Osama, R. Mohamed and H. Mohamed, "Development of Longer-Lasting Insect Repellence Cellulosic Based Curtain Fabrics," Materials Sciences and Applications, Vol. 2 No. 3, 2011, pp. 200-208. doi: 10.4236/msa.2011.23025.