Microemulsification of essential oils for the development of antimicrobial and mosquito repellent functional coatings for textiles

Aims To develop an essential oil (EO)‐loaded textile coating using an environmentally friendly microemulsion technique to achieve both antimicrobial and mosquito repellent functionalities. Methods and Results Minimum inhibitory concentrations and fractional inhibitory concentrations of litsea, lemon and rosemary EOs were determined against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Trichophyton rubrum. A 1 : 2 mixture of litsea and lemon EOs inhibited all the microorganisms tested and was incorporated into a chitosan‐sodium alginate assembly by a microemulsification process. The EO‐loaded microemulsions were applied to cotton and polyester fabrics using a soak‐pad‐dry method. The textile challenge tests demonstrated 7–8 log10 reductions of S. epidermidis, S. aureus and E. coli after 24 h and T. rubrum after 48 h. Aedes aegypti mosquito repellency was also assessed which demonstrated 71·43% repellency compared to 52·94% by neat EO‐impregnated cotton. Conclusions Textiles treated with the litsea and lemon EO microemulsion showed strong antimicrobial activity against the skin associated microorganisms E. coli, S. aureus, S. epidermidis and T. rubrum and potential mosquito repellent properties. Significance and Impact of the Study EOs could be useful for the development of natural, environmentally friendly functional textiles to protect textiles and users from microbial contamination in addition to possessing other beneficial properties such as mosquito repellency.