Silver nanoparticles (nanosilver) are the most popular nanoparticle used in the textile market (such as socks, shirts, and underwear) to inhibit the growth of bacteria causing unpleasant odor and/or infections. However, recent studies show that nanosilver-containing textiles release significant amounts of silver into laundering water—up to 20-30% of the silver mass in textiles during the first laundering—and their releasing behaviors strongly depend on the methods of nanosilver attachment. In this study, we have encased nanosilver in the interior of cotton fiber by directly synthesizing nanosilver in the microfibrillar structure of the fiber and subjected the resulting nansilver-cotton fabric to multiple simulated household launderings. After 50 laundering cycles, the loss of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) intensity of nanosilver-cotton fabric was only 11.4%, and the corresponding color difference deduced from the CIE LAB coordinates was 5.0. The plots of SPR intensity and color difference as a function of laundering cycle exhibited slope changes at 20 and 10 cycles, respectively, above which they became less dependent on the laundering cycle. These results indicate that the nanosilver anchored inside cotton fiber is leach-resistant and thus can minimize the potential environmental risks while maintaining its full nanoenabled benefits across the lifecycle.

Behavior of nanosilver anchored inside cotton fiber in laundering water

2019 Fall National Meeting

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