Development of Synergistic Antimicrobial Coating of p-Aramid Fibers Using Ag Nanoparticles and Glycidyltrimethylammonium Chloride (GTAC) without the Aid of a Cross-Linking Agent

• Published in: Polymers Vol. 9; no. 8; p. 357
• Main Authors: Kang, Chankyu, Ahn, Dajeong, Roh, Changhyun, Kim, Sam Soo, Lee, Jaewoong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 11.08.2017; MDPI
• Subjects: antimicrobial activity; Antimicrobial agents; Aramid fibers; Chemical industry; Colloiding; Crosslinking; Diversified companies; glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride; Nanoparticles; p-aramid fibers; Silver; silver nanoparticles; Stability analysis; tensile strength; Thermal stability; Thermogravimetric analysis; glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride; p-aramid fibers; tensile strength; antimicrobial activity; silver nanoparticles
• ISSN: 2073-4360; 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/polym9080357

Functional p-aramid fibers that can express antimicrobial activity were produced by simple processing of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which are well known as antimicrobial agents, by using glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTAC), a quaternary ammonium salt. P-aramid fibers were treated with GTAC by the pad-dry-cure process and put into an Ag colloid solution for reactions at 40 °C for 90 min to prepare GTAC/AgNPs-treated -aramid fibers. Through these processes, GTAC was used as a substitute for existing cross-linking agents. The changes in the degree of attachment of AgNPs to the surface of -aramid fibers were determined using a scanning electron microscope according to parameters such as GTAC concentration, Ag colloid concentration, and reaction temperature. Through this study, the following results were obtained: (i) The tensile strength of AgNPs/GTAC-treated -aramid fibers was found to be about 80% of that of untreated -aramid fibers; (ii) Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the thermal stability of -aramid fibers did not change much after GTAC/AgNPs treatment and (iii) Antimicrobial activity analysis showed that AgNPs/GTAC-treated -aramid fibers exhibited superior antibacterial properties compared to untreated -aramid fibers, which may or may not be the effect of GTAC or AgNPs, or both.