Antimicrobial textile prepared by silver deposition on dielectric barrier discharge treated cotton/polyester fabric

The objective of this research was to impart the additional value on cotton/polyester (Co/PES) fabrics (i.e. antimicrobial properties) to improve the quality of life and thus to tap new markets with the product. In this paper, silver ions were incorporated in Co/PES fabrics by chemisorptions into the fabric previously treated in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD). A series of the DBD fabric treatments were done in order to determine the most suitable experimental conditions for the DBD activation of the fabric surface, while the optimal conditions for silver ions sorption by Co/PES fabrics were determined by changing sorption conditions. The antimicrobial Co/PES fabrics prepared by dielectric barrier discharge mediated silver deposition show an antimicrobial activity against tested pathogens: S. aureus, E. coli, and C. albicans under in vitro conditions. The obtained results confirm the practicability of the plasma modification process and furthermore show that with some delays in the next step, i.e. silver ion sorption, we can get the increase in the amount of the sorbed silver ions; the maximum sorption capacity of modified Co/PES fabrics was 0.135 mmol of Ag+ ions per gram of a fabric.