Research Projects

The spread of mosquito-borne deadly diseases necessitates the development of protective means against the mosquitoes. Even though some interesting works are reported on the mosquito-repellent finishing of textiles, the mosquito-repellent dyes were studied to a limited extent. As efficiency and durability always remain a question, the mosquito-repellent dyes will provide a revolution in this field. Microencapsulation of essential oils is widely studied to achieve the objective of mosquito-repellency in textiles; however, the efficiency is generally with a time of storage and the laundering treatments. Apart from this, the fixation of the polymeric microcapsules on textile substrates always remains a critical operation and these fixation methods affect the physical properties of textiles. Synthetic fibre like nylon and polyester are widely used in apparel manufacturing. As demand for technical textiles is increasing, the synthetic fibres are widely utilized. This makes it interesting to develop mosquito-repellent disperse dyes which can dye nylon and polyester which can show efficient mosquito-repellency till the garment remains coloured. Such dyed fibres can also be used for making military uniforms and other products used by military personnel. In short, the following gaps were identified in the existing literature which will be worked upon in the projected work: • Limited works are reported on the synthesis of mosquito-repellent dyes • No real-life product development is reported using mosquito repellent dyes. • Limited work on durability studies on the efficacy of mosquito-repellence against repeated laundering treatments. The following objectives will be targeted 1. To Synthesize novel mosquito-repellent dyes for colouration and mosquito repellent finishing of textiles 2. To characterize the synthesized dyes 3. To dye of textile substrates (Cotton, Polyester and Nylon) by the synthesized dyes 4. To evaluate colouration properties of dyed substrates 5. To evaluate functional properties (viz. mosquito-repellency, antibacterial activity, UV-protection) of dyed substrates 6. To measure the efficacy of functional properties against repeated launderings 7. To develop useful protective products for defence applications