Durable and Regenerable Antimicrobial Textiles: Chlorine Transfer among Halamine Structures

An intermolecular chlorine transfer reaction has been considered as a possible cause for improved durability and power of biocidal functions on cotton fabrics containing a mixture of amine, amide, and imide halamine structures. To prove the chlorine transfer reaction, model compounds of amine halamine and imide were employed. The results indicated that the chlorine transfer reaction from stable amine halamine to imide and the formation of an active imide halamine occurred in both water and chloroform solutions. The transfer is a second-order reaction related to the concentrations of both amine halamine and imide bonds but is more significantly affected by the concentration of amine bonds. The reaction is endothermic, and the rate is very slow, on the order of 10^-4-10^-5 mmol/min in both water and chloroform.