Huge amount of crab and shrimp shells have been abandoned as wastes worldwide. These wastes are reprocessed as a result of increased environmental laws and new products have been produced from these shells. Chitin has become the most preferred form of them and it is also the most abundant biopolymer after cellulose in nature. Chitosan, the main derivative of chitin, is obtained by deacetylation of chitin. Application areas of chitin and chitosan have been increasing together with the researches made on them. Like most of other industries, Chitosan has the most common application possibilities in textile industry such as antimicrobial agent, spinning, cotton, wool dyeing and shrink proofing of wool fibers. In present study, the effect of chitosan and crosslinking agent at different concentrations on antibacterial efficiency and washing durability were investigated. The combination of DMDHEU and chitosan was found to give better results against multiple washings than that of chitosan alone.
Key Words: Chitosan, Chitin, Antimicrobial agent, Cotton.
