International. In a paper recently published by Chinese researchers, an antibacterial coating of silver/water-based polyurethane-acrylate was synthesized on cotton fabric based on the click reaction via ultraviolet radiation.
Silver/water-based polyurethane acrylate coating (Ag/WPUA) was first synthesized by a novel and easy method of combining in situ reduction and polymerization reactions. Cotton fabrics were pretreated to introduce SH groups by reacting between the OC2H5 groups of 3-mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane and OH groups of cotton fabrics.
Next, the antibacterial finish of the cotton fabric with Ag/WPUA coating under ultraviolet (UV) radiation was obtained where a click reaction occurred between the SH groups and the CC bonds. The Ag/WPUA coating was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transformed infrared spectra (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The chemical bonding, antibacterial property, thermal stability and mechanical property of antibacterial cotton were investigated.
The results of the antibacterial test clarify that the bacterial reduction was 99.99% for E. coli and S. aureus, which reveals that the finish in cotton fabrics has excellent antibacterial activity. In addition, antibacterial cotton fabrics still maintain good mechanical properties, such as breakage resistance and thermal stability.
Source: www.sciencedirect.com
