A new method for production of antibacterial fabrics

There are two conventional methods to obtain antibacterial surfaces: the first is to use fibers which naturally have antibacterial properties in their structure and the second way is to apply antibacterial finishing. The aim of this study is to obtain antibacterial textile surface with a new method of nanotechnology. Electrospraying is a new, different, easy and successful technique for textile surface modification. The main advantage of the method is the requirement of much less energy. This is due to the fact that, this method does not require drying operation. Thus, the method reduces the cost of process considerable with respect to the conventional ways. Another important advantage is that the method is suitable for treating of only one surface of the fabric that protect the wearer from contacting chemical materials. In this study, antibacterial finishing materials were applied on the gabardine fabric surface by electrospraying method. Different antibacterial finishing materials (Ruco-Bac AGP, Ruco-Bac HSA-CONC, Ruco-Bac ZPY) were used for antibacterial application of gabardine fabric. Antibacterial tests for S. Auerus and E.Coli, which are the main bacteria type seen in textile materials were applied on fabrics to determine antibacterial performance after repetitive washing applications. The results obtained from morphological analyzes and antibacterial tests confirmed that the cotton fabrics treated with silver nanoparticles via electrospraying displayed a significant antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E.coli bacteria and this antibacterial efficiency was maintained even after 50 washing cycles. Additionally, comparative results showed that the electrospraying method can provide performance as good as conventional padding method.