Durability of silver nanoparticles dispersed into cotton fiber during consecutive laundering

Authors: Nam, Sunghyun; Hillyer, Matthew; Condon, Brian; Reynolds, Michael

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/2/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Silver nanoparticles, for their superior antibacterial property, have been the most popular nanoparticle used in consumer products. Many textile products such as socks, shirts, and trousers on the market today contain silver nanoparticles to prevent occurrence of dermal infections and unpleasant odor. However, these functional textiles released significant amounts of silver during the use and laundering. Such leach of silver nanoparticles not only deteriorates the antibacterial function of the textiles, but also poses health and environmental risks. In this study, we demonstrate that silver nanoparticles dispersed inside cotton fiber were resistant to the leach during the course of sequential laundering, providing the longevity of antibacterial performance.

Technical Abstract: Silver nanoparticles (nanosilver) have increasingly been used for the production of odor-neutralizing and anti-infective textiles. Commercially available nanosilver-containing textile products contain silver ranging from 2 to 2900 'mg/kg and release significant amounts of silver, i.e., 20-30% of the total silver in the textiles during the first washing. This study shows the strong dependence of the dispersion type of silver nanoparticles—internal versus external—for cotton on washing durability. The immobilization of silver nanoparticles by the internal dispersion was demonstrated during up to 50 laundering cycles.