In situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles on silk fabric with PNP for antibacterial finishing

This research presents a generic strategy to fabricate antibacterial textile through in situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles on the fabric with smart polymeric molecules. Silk fabric and polyamide network polymer (PNP) were chosen for this study. PNP which has numerous amino groups and three-dimensional structure was applied to entrap silver ions into silk fabric. The pretreated silk fabrics were heated by steam method to make silver nanoparticles synthesized in situ on them without any other reductant and linker to provide silk fabric with antibacterial properties. The results indicated that the treated silk fabrics had excellent antibacterial activity and laundering durability. The quantitative bacterial tests showed the bacterial reduction rates of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were able to reach above 99 % with not more than 0.05 mmol/L of AgNO₃. The whiteness of silk fabric only changed from 90.47 to 86.49. The antibacterial activity of the treated silk fabric was maintained at 98.86 % reduction even after being exposed to 30 consecutive home laundering conditions. In addition, the results of scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that silver nanoparticles had generated and dispersed well in Ag⁰ form on the surface of silk fibers. The understanding acquired from this work will allow one to work with the preparation of other silver nanoparticles functional textiles with excellent antibacterial activities and laundering durability through this facile, eco-friendly in situ synthesis method.