Antibacterial Textiles

Research and Practice of Colloids in Antibacterial Textiles

The introduction of antibacterial agents into textiles can prevent the growth of bad pathogenic strains and play an antibacterial effect. But the repeated use of natural antibacterial agents leads to drug resistance in pathogenic strains, and chemical disinfectants are toxic to the environment and humans. The high surface area-to-volume ratio of colloidal particles, such as metals, metal oxides, and colloidal composites, enhances their interactions with microorganisms and is found to have antibacterial activity. Therefore, these colloidal particles can be added to textile fabrics as antibacterial agents to eliminate the growth and spread of bacteria.

Some researchers used ultrasonic irradiation to irradiate copper acetate solution impregnated with cotton fabrics, and directly synthesized CuO colloidal particles on textile materials in situ, as shown in Fig.1. The textile exhibits long-lasting antibacterial properties. While there are many theories about the antibacterial mechanism of colloidal particles, and Fig.2 summarizes the antibacterial mechanisms that colloidal particles may exhibit.

Fig.1 Scheme of textile functionalization by the in situ method.^[2]

Fig.2 Mode of antibacterial mechanism exhibited by nanoparticles in the fabric surface.^[3]

Alfa Chemistry is able to incorporate recent advances in the field of colloidal material structure into textile applications, using them as potential reagents to avoid the spread of pathogenic bacteria. We specialize in chemically incorporating colloidal particles into fabric surfaces and are able to provide methods for evaluating antimicrobial efficacy.

What Can We Do?

• Alfa Chemistry provides a variety of colloidal particles for antibacterial textiles, including metals (Ag, Au, Pt and Cu, etc.), metal oxides (TiO₂ , ZnO, MgO and CuO, etc.) and colloidal composites.
• Alfa Chemistry provides customers with solutions for embedding nanoparticles into the surface of fabrics by functionalizing colloidal particles or modifying the surface of textiles.
• Alfa Chemistry can cooperate with upstream and downstream enterprises to develop new antibacterial textiles and provide professional commercial design.

References

1. Gao Y, Cranston R. Recent Advances in Antimicrobial Treatments of Textiles. Textile Research Journal. 2008, 78(1):60-72.
2. LE Román, et al. Antibacterial Cotton Fabric Functionalized with Copper Oxide Nanoparticles. Molecules. 2020, 25(24):5802.
3. Andra S, et al. Emerging nanomaterials for antibacterial textile fabrication. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology. 2021, 394(7):1355-1382.

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