Abstract
Article history: Received March 26, 2013 Received in Revised form June 27, 2013 Accepted 28 June 2013 Available online 2 July 2013 A new durable antibacterial cotton fabric was successfully prepared by free-radical graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) and itaconic acid (IA) onto a cotton fabric in an aqueous medium. Ammonium persulfate (APS) was used as the initiator in the presence of a crosslinker, methylene bisacrylamide (MBA). The nanocomposite hydrogel was obtained from in situ formation of silver nanoparticles from reduction of silver cations by sodium borohydride. A proposed mechanism for nanocomposite formation was suggested and the effect of ratio of IA to AA on water absorbency discussed. FTIR, UV-Vis, X-ray, and scanning electron microscopy were employed to characterize the structure of the prepared superabsorbent. The antibacterial activity of the hydrogel was tested qualitatively and quantitatively. Results showed that the silver nanoparticle-loaded fabric has potent antibacterial activity to Escherichia coli Gramnegative bacteria. © 2013 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Highlights
Textile industry has made significant advances in developing antibacterial fibers and agents
We report the results of our study using the graft co-polymerization to modify cotton fabric with the hydrogel–silver nanocomposite in order to impart the cotton with an antibacterial property
Cotton fabric was grafted with a poly via ammonium persulfate induced graft co-polymerization in an aqueous medium
Summary
Textile industry has made significant advances in developing antibacterial fibers and agents. In order to reduce of transmission of infectious agents by contaminated protective equipment like masks, an antimicrobial nanoparticle coating has been developed. Silver or silver ions are known for their powerful antibacterial activities[6, 7], which is generally believed to result from the reaction of this heavy metal with proteins. Carboxylic acid groups can be used as a temporary anchoring agent for attaching silver cations to polymer hydrogels, and the silver is reduced to form nanoparticle with borohydride salts[11]. Silver nanoparticles add antibacterial properties to a variety of polymer hydrogels. This material can be washed several times without any loss of antibacterial activity and it increases the durability of fabric antibacterial activity
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