Development of antimicrobial activity and mechanical performances of cotton fabric treated with silver nano particles (AgNPs)

Abstract

The current research focuses on the synthesis, characterization and application of silver nano particles (AgNPs) on cotton fabric to create the antimicrobial property and improve its mechanical performances. Here nano particles are synthesized by reduction of salt in sol-gel method and applied on cotton fabric surface by mechanical thermo fixation technique. Various instrumental tests like UV spectroscopy, zetasize analyzing and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are carried out to characterize the synthesized nano particles. The size of AgNPs is found about 60 nm and the shape is approximately spherical. The antimicrobial activity of treated fabric is examined against two bacteria named S. aureus (gram positive) and E. coli (gram negative) by bacterial reduction system. The result shows very good antimicrobial property in both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. An appreciable improvement on mechanical performances of nano treated fabric is also obtained.