A study on multifunctional wool textiles treated with nano-sized silver

Abstract

We treated wool textiles with a sulfur nano-silver colloidal solution (SNSE) having Ag/S complex, which was a particle size of average 4.2 nm in ethanol base. The SNSE was a safe chemical agent having the perfect antibacterial efficacy with a very small amount of nano-sized silver and non-irritative solution to the skin. Antibacterial activity was evaluated by calculation of bacteria reduction against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Klebsiella pneumoniae) bacteria. The treated wool textiles with the silver colloid were investigated the resistivity against insect pests through both calculation of the fiber loss weight and visible assessment attacked by larvae after 14 days in given conditions. Also, we confirmed the antistatic efficacy of the finished fabrics with silver particle on their surface. The static electricity of the treated wool fabric was increased more up to 50 ppm, then, it was decreased according to the silver content. Consequently, it was demonstrated that the finished wool fabrics with sulfur nano-silver colloid had various functionalities, such as mothproofing, antibiotic, and antistatic property.