A study of antimicrobial property of textile fabric treated with modified dendrimers

Abstract

AbstractDendrimers have been used as a vehicle to develop the antimicrobial properties of textile fabrics. We have taken advantage of the large number of functional groups present in the regular and highly branched three‐dimensional architecture of dendrimers. In this study, the poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) G‐3 dendrimer was modified to provide antimicrobial properties. Following a procedure similar to what is suggested in the literature, PAMAM (G3) with primary amine end groups was converted into ammonium functionalities. The modification was then confirmed by FTIR and 13C‐NMR analysis. Dendrimers have unique properties owing to their globular shape and tunable cavities, this allows them to form complexes with a variety of ions and compounds; and also act as a template to fabricate metal nanoparticles. AgNO3–PAMAM (G3) complex as well as a MesoSilver–PAMAM (G3) complex were formed and these modified dendrimers were characterized by a UV–Visible spectrophotometer to study the complex formation. Modified dendrimers were applied to the Cotton/Nylon blend fabric. SEM and EDX analysis were performed to study the dispersion of silver nanoparticles onto the fabric. An antimicrobial test of the treated‐fabric against Staphylococcus aureus exhibited significant biocidal activities for each type of modified‐dendrimer. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010