Cinnamon and Eucalyptus Extracts: A Promising Natural\nApproach for Durable Mosquito-Repellent Fabrics with Multifunctionality

Mosquitoes are highly\nimportant carriers of diseases, such as malaria,\ndengue, chikungunya, and various other life-threatening illnesses.\nTraditionally, many chemicals, such as plant extracts, oils, and smoke,\nhave been employed for the purpose of repelling mosquitoes. Various\nplants possess essential oils and chemicals that have been proven\nto be good insect repellents and are commonly regarded as weeds. The\npresent study focused on the development of eco-friendly, nonhazardous\nmosquito-repellent fabrics using cinnamon and eucalyptus extracts.\nFirst, eucalyptus and cinnamon extracts were produced separately using\nethanol and water as solvents with and without heating. Forty-eight\ndifferent fabric samples were prepared by applying these extracts\nat three levels of process application temperature. A steam dye bath\nsampling machine was utilized to execute the extraction application\nprocess on fabric samples. The mosquito repellency performances of\nall of the samples were evaluated using the cage test method. The\ncage test revealed that all of the samples of eucalyptus and cinnamon\nextract-applied fabrics showed mosquito repellency performance at\nsome level. However, the fabric samples treated with the heated extract\nof eucalyptus ethanol (EE-H) at 60 °C showed the best results\nin terms of mosquito repellency (85.56%) among all combinations. In\naddition to repellency, the impact of washing durability, UV shielding,\nand antibacterial performance was also evaluated. This research demonstrated\na new method for creating a fabric that repels mosquitoes and has\neffective antibacterial properties as well as promising ultraviolet\nprotection factor (UPF) rating. This fabric protects the wearer from\nthe significant health risks posed by mosquitoes and harmful UV radiation\nwhile also maintaining its cleanliness. Moreover, the utilization\nand implementation of plant-derived coatings on textiles contribute\nto the advancement of sustainable methods (SDG 9 and SDG 12) in the\nchemical processing industry of textiles, ultimately leading to a\nreduction in their environmental footprint.