Wicking behavior and antibacterial properties of multifunctional knitted fabrics made from metal commingled yarns

Abstract

In this study, stainless steel wires (SSWs) were selected as conductive filler to produce antibacterial nylon (AN)/crisscross-section polyester (CSP)/SSW multifunctional metal commingled yarns with hollow spindle spinning technique. All metal commingled yarns used AN and CSP yarns to wind around the SSW in the S- and Z-directions as the outer and inner wrap yarns, respectively. The wrapping density varied from 8.0 to 15.5 turns/cm, which exhibited an obvious influence on the tenacity and elongation of the commingled yarns. Metal composite knitted fabrics made from the commingled yarns were tested in terms of their horizontal wicking capability, drying rate, and surface resistivity properties. Results showed that knitted fabric KC-11 displayed the best horizontal wicking capability, drying rate, and surface resistivity values. To evaluate the effect of the layer number of knitted fabrics on comfort, the air permeability of the fabric KC-11 was also discussed. The air permeability decreased from 421.6 to 140 cm3/cm2/s, when the layer number increased from one layer to six layers. The antibacterial activity of the KC-11 sample was assessed against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria according to the AATCC 90-2011 standard method. The presence of the AN yarns in the metal composite knitted fabrics displayed an obvious inhibition zone for both types of bacteria, which can be attributed to the high antibacterial activity of organosilicon quaternary ammonium salt component.