Application Of Silver Loading Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes Antibacterial Agents In Fiber

In the development process of textile materials toward being functional, comfortable and healthy, more attention is being paid to the antibacterial fibers. Inorganic antimicrobial agents which are superior over natural and organic antibacterial agents in heat-resisting, launderability, safety and durability, can be used for manufacturing antibacterial fibers by different methods. Therefore, there are ever-increasing research in preparing antibacterial fibers in which inorganic antibacterial agents are used as antibacterial functional materials. Since its discovery by Iijima in 1991, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with unique structures and excellent physical and chemical properties have exhibited promising applications in many areas. CNTs / polymer composite materials have become a hot topic in the field of material research. It is of significance to develop CNTs-supported silver antibacterial agents and explore their use fibers.In present paper the first-principle simulation was carried out to investigate the structure and stability of silver adsorbed on the internal-walls and the outer-walls of CNTs, with the outer-walls modified by carboxyl and hydroxyl groups. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were oxidized in nitric acid and then used as carrier to perpare Ag/MWNTs antibacterial agent by adsorption in AgNO3 solution.With the Ag/MWNTs antibacterial agent as functional material, the Ag/MWNTs antibacterial wool fibers were prepared by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation method. Ag/MWNTs antibacterial PET masterbatch was prepared with a twin-screw extruder. Melt spinning technique was adopted to spin antibacterial PETFDY fiber. The influences of the spinning technology and the additive amount of anti-bacterial PET masterbatch on the spinnability of antibacterial PETFDY function fibers were systematically investigated.The morphologies of the samples were observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The structures of specimens were characterized by High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Infrared Spectrometry (IR). The contents of silver were measured with Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometry (ICPS). The degree of crystallinity was measured with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The antibacterial properties of all specimens were tested using alive-bacteria-counting and flask-shaking methods.With emphasis on the design of antibacterial functional materials and the process optimization for their applications in natural wool fibers and PET fibers, this study reached the main conclusions as follows.(1)The loading of Ag ions in the modified CNTs was mainly by physical adsorption. (2)HNO3-treated MWNTs used as carrier to prepare Ag/MWNTs antibacterial agent by adsorption. It had excellent release and antibacterial properties.(3) The antibacterial wool fibers were prepared by"UV-treatment + dipping + secondary UV-irradiation +washing and drying". The fibers exhibited excellent thermal, antibacterial and wash-resistant properties.(4) Ag/MWNTs antibacterial PET masterbatch with good dispersity and antibacterial property was prepared using a twin-screw extruder. The orientation of Ag/MWNTs antibacterial agents was promoted along the axial direction, which was beneficial to improve the spinnability of antibacterial PET fibers.(5)Ag/MWNTs antibacterial PETFDY fibers with excellent antibacterial property were prepared by melt spinning technique.