Eco-friendly antibacterial finish for natural knitted fabrics

The present research is focused on the fabrication and characterization of eight knitted fabrics loaded with beeswax/sage essential oil system by a two-step process: oil-in water (o/w) emulsification,and application on knitted fabric. the investigation was designed to determine antibacterial effect,the ability to release the biologically active compound,and comfort indices (air and vapor permeability and hygroscopicity) of treated knitted fabrics. we have clarified the successful entrapment of sage essential oil (seo) in beeswax matrix by uv-visspectro-photometry and have determined the morphology of treated knitted fabrics by optical microscopy. keywords: sage essential oil; beeswax; emulsion; staphylococcus aureus; knitted fabric.