Development of Synergistic Antimicrobial Coating of p-Aramid Fibers Using Ag Nanoparticles and Glycidyltrimethylammonium Chloride (GTAC) without the Aid of a Cross-Linking Agent.

Chankyu Kang,Changhyun Roh,Sam Soo Kim,Jaewoong Lee,Dajeong Ahn

doi:10.3390/polym9080357

Chankyu Kang, Changhyun Roh + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/polym9080357

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Abstract

Functional p-aramid fibers that can express antimicrobial activity were produced by simple processing of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which are well known as antimicrobial agents, by using glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTAC), a quaternary ammonium salt. P-aramid fibers were treated with GTAC by the pad-dry-cure process and put into an Ag colloid solution for reactions at 40 °C for 90 min to prepare GTAC/AgNPs-treated p-aramid fibers. Through these processes, GTAC was used as a substitute for existing cross-linking agents. The changes in the degree of attachment of AgNPs to the surface of p-aramid fibers were determined using a scanning electron microscope according to parameters such as GTAC concentration, Ag colloid concentration, and reaction temperature. Through this study, the following results were obtained: (i) The tensile strength of AgNPs/GTAC-treated p-aramid fibers was found to be about 80% of that of untreated p-aramid fibers; (ii) Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the thermal stability of p-aramid fibers did not change much after GTAC/AgNPs treatment and (iii) Antimicrobial activity analysis showed that AgNPs/GTAC-treated p-aramid fibers exhibited superior antibacterial properties compared to untreated p-aramid fibers, which may or may not be the effect of GTAC or AgNPs, or both.

Highlights

Along with the development of modern technology, super fiber polymers have been used in various fields in accordance with the trend toward lightweight materials with high functionality.In recent years, there has been a growing demand for a variety of functions of super fiber materials and diverse studies of those materials have been in progress [1,2,3]
Polymers 2017, 9, 357 properties, it is a high strength super fiber with tenacity not lower than 20 g/d, modulus in a range of 500~1100 g/d, heat resistance to endure at 400 ◦ C, cold resistance to endure at low temperatures such as −160 ◦ C, chemical resistance, and high energy absorption capacity [6,7], which is generally used for bulletproof vests, protective clothing, composite materials for aircraft and automobiles requiring high performance, and various industrial applications [5,6,7]
The Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) images of AgNPs dispersed in a silver colloid solution are shown in Figure 1, taken before attaching AgNPs to the p-aramid fiber surface in order to identify the sizes and distribution of the AgNPs dispersed in a silver colloid solution

Summary

Introduction

Along with the development of modern technology, super fiber polymers have been used in various fields in accordance with the trend toward lightweight materials with high functionality.In recent years, there has been a growing demand for a variety of functions of super fiber materials and diverse studies of those materials have been in progress [1,2,3]. Poly (p-phenylen terephthalamide) (PPTA, p-aramid), which has begun to be commercialized since the late 1970s, is a super fiber known by its product name, Kevlar It has an arene substitution pattern in which functional groups face each other across aromatic hydrocarbons so that the skin part in the skin-core structure has higher crystal orientation than the core part [4,5]. There are several methods for imparting antimicrobial properties to the fibers, such as placing the antimicrobial agent directly into the polymer, coating or attaching the antimicrobial agent on the surface of the polymer, and attaching the antimicrobial agent through chemical or physical bonding [14]

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