Vigilancia Tecnológica

The antibacterial silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs)-loaded cotton fabric modified by SPEEK/PVA film was prepared by photo-induced method with 350 nm UV light irradiation. Its wearable properties, such as wrinkle recovery, tensile property, thermal stability and water vapour permeability were investigated. It was found that the fabric loaded with Ag NPs retained its brown colour after five cycles of washing in soap solution. TG/DTG analysis indicated that the fabric had two pyrolysis peak temperatures at about 370 °C and 500 °C, and the loading of Ag NPs improved the thermal stability of the cotton fabric. The crease recovery angles of the fabric in both warp and weft directions increased with the generation of Ag NPs. However, both the breaking force and elongation at break decreased with the generation of Ag NPs due to the use of UV irradiation, which is destrimental to the mechanical performance of textile materials. Moreover, the deposition of Ag NPs led to a minor decrease of the water-vapour transmission rate. The hand-feel evaluation showed that the softness of the fabric improved whilst the smoothness declined with the loading of Ag NPs. The water contact angle was found to be 135.2°, indicating that the Ag NPs-loaded cotton fabric had excellent hydrophobicity.