Preparation of Thyme Oil Loaded Microcapsules for Textile Applications

Senem Karagonlu, Guldemet Başal , Figen Ozyıldız, Atac Uzel

The aim of this work is to develop functional textile materials with antimicrobial properties. For this purpose thyme oil (Thymus vulgaris L.) was encapsulated by complex coacervation method using gelatin (GE) and gum arabic (GA) as wall materials. No crosslinking agent were used during the encapsulation process in order to eliminate  their toxic effect.  These capsules applied to a nonwoven fabric. The effect of various processing parameters, including the amount of oil and concentration of wall material on the encapsulation yield, particle size distribution and capsule loading was investigated and antimicrobial activities of microcapsules and fabrics were determined. Microencapsulation yield increased as the amount of oil increased, but shapes of capsules became irregular. When amount of wall material in solution increased, formation of capsules diminished. Antimicrobial activity test revealed that both microcapsules and fabrics with different concentrations of microcapsules showed antimicrobial activity against E. coli, S. aureus ve C. albicans microorganisms