Preparation of multi-functional cellulose containing huge conjugated system and its UV-protective and antibacterial property

A novel Schiff base containing huge azo conjugated system and reactive groups, 3,5-bis{2-hydroxyphenyl-5-[(2-sulfate-4-sulfatoethylsulfonyl-azobenzol)methylene amino]}benzoic acid (BHSABA) was applied to modify cellulose. Exhaustion and grafting reactive rate, and grafting quantity of BHSABA on cellulose were calculated. The chemical structure of the modified cellulose was characterized and thermal degradation and morphology were also investigated. The UV protection and antibacterial properties were measured. With increasing the concentration of BHSABA, grafting quantity of BHSABA on cellulose increased from 1.52 × 10−2 mmol/g to 5.08 × 10−2 mmol/g. The multi-functional cellulose fabrics had excellent UV-protective property, which possessed very high UPF value and very low ultraviolet transmittance. The UPF values exceeded 50 and the ultraviolet transmittances were all less than 1%. They also exhibited moderate activity against Staphylococcus aureus and after 10 times washing still maintained antibacterial activity. The onsets of degradation slightly decreased. With increasing the grafting quantity of BHSABA on cellulose, mass loss yields of the residues increased. The morphological structure had no noticeable change.