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Preparation of novel fibre–silica–Ag composites: the influence of fibre structure on sorption capacity and antimicrobial activity

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Abstract

Novel fibre–silica–Ag composites with biocidal activity were successfully produced by chemical modifying cotton (CO), wool (WO), silk (SE), polyamide (PA) and polyester (PES) fabrics and CO/PES and WO/PES fabric blends. A silica–Ag coating was prepared using a two-step procedure that included the creation of a silica matrix on the fibre surface via the application of an inorganic–organic hybrid sol–gel precursor [reactive binder (RB)] using a pad-dry-cure method, followed by the in situ synthesis of AgCl particles within the RB-treated fibres from solutions of 0.10 mM and 0.50 mM AgNO3 and NaCl. The presence of the coating on the fibres was verified by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The bulk concentration of Ag in the coated fibres was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. The antimicrobial activity was determined for the bacteria Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and the fungus Aspergillus niger. The results show that the chemical and morphological structures of the fibres directly influenced their absorptivity and affinity for the Ag compound particles. As the amorphous molecular structure of the fibres and the amount of functional groups available as binding sites for Ag+ were increased, both the silver solution uptake and the concentration of the absorbed Ag compound particles increased. The chemical binding of Ag to the fibres significantly reduced the effectiveness of the antimicrobial activity of the Ag compound particles. Accordingly, an increase in the concentration of absorbed Ag was required to achieve a biocidal effect.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (Programme P2-0213, Research Infrastructure Centre UL–NTF and a grant for Ph.D. student D. K.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Textiles, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 12, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Danijela Klemenčič, Brigita Tomšič & Barbara Simončič

  2. Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 5, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Franci Kovač

  3. Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Hacquetova 17, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Metka Žerjav & Andrej Simončič

Authors
  1. Danijela Klemenčič
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  2. Brigita Tomšič
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  3. Franci Kovač
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  4. Metka Žerjav
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  5. Andrej Simončič
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  6. Barbara Simončič
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Correspondence to Barbara Simončič.

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Klemenčič, D., Tomšič, B., Kovač, F. et al. Preparation of novel fibre–silica–Ag composites: the influence of fibre structure on sorption capacity and antimicrobial activity. J Mater Sci 49, 3785–3794 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8090-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8090-x

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