Characterization Studies of A Commercial Blue Clay For Cosmetic Textiles With Antibacterial Activity

Abstract

Since the beginning of the present century, tests have shown that some types of clay can present antibacterial activity. In addition, the clay considered for pharmaceutical and cosmetic products have been found to be non-toxic and non-irritating materials, therefore, the use of these types of clay for cosmetic and pharmaceutical purposes has increased in recent years. The above being said, different types of clay have been used over time due to their antibacterial properties, but the analytical methods for their characterization are just beginning to develop. This article is part of a study having as main objective the development of multifunctional antimicrobial textile materials to prevent fungal and bacterial proliferation, thus creating an antimicrobial shield for the human body, especially for blemish-prone skin. In this paperwork, a commercial blue clay was characterized through modern techniques. One of these techniques is X-ray Diffraction (XRD). Coupling SEM with an Energy Dispersive X-Ray detector (EDX), complete information of the morphology and elemental composition of the clay powder can be obtained. Additionally, a microbiological characterization was also performed in order to assess the anti fungal properties. Thus, the obtained results provided an overview of the main features of the selected blue clay. Further studies will be directed to the development of different types of clay-based dispersion and also for the characterization of different types of textile materials, in order to choose a "clay-textile" pair with improved antimicrobial activity.