Inkjet Printing of Curcumin-Based Ink for Coloration and Bioactivation of Polyamide, Silk, and Wool Fabrics

This work presents a facile and sustainable way of fabricating the antibacterial and antioxidant printed polyamide (PA), silk, and wool fabrics with brilliant yellow shade through inkjet printing of curcumin-based ink. All the reagents involved in the pretreatment, printing, and post-treatment processes are obtained from natural sources with the exception of two surfactants. Three inks containing curcumin, tannin acid, and a combination of these two were formulated and characterized. The color performances, bioactivities, and durability of the printed samples were studied. The results show that all the inks remained stable for 8 days with no sign of aggregation or degradation. The printed silk fabrics displayed higher color depth than the printed PA and wool fabrics. The curcumin ink showed better ink penetration into silk fabric than PA and wool fabrics. All the prepared fabrics had antioxidant activity over 95% and antibacterial activity exceeding 85%. After 10 washing cycles, the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the prepared fabrics decreased by ca. 5% and 25%, respectively.