Improvement of Odor Elimination and Anti-bacterial Activity of Polyester Fabrics Finished with Composite Emulsions of Nanometer Titanium Dioxide-silver Particles-water-borne Polyurethane

Abstract

In this study, two bacteria and three odorous chemicals were employed to assess the antibacterial activity and the odor elimination abilities of fabric samples finished with nanometer titanium dioxide/nanometer silver/water-borne polyurethane (nano-TiO2/nano-Ag/WBPU) composite emulsions. It was found that the value of odor elimination, ultraviolet light transmission, and anti-bacteria for the mixture of nano-TiO2 and nano-Ag was higher than the summed value for the individual nanoTiO2 and nano-Ag. The odor elimination ability for individual nano-TiO2 was better than that for individual nano-Ag, but the anti-bacterial activity was found to follow the opposite trend. The mechanisms of the free radical formation for nano-TiO2Ag+ have been discussed, suggested and confirmed with the investigation of the energy gap and conductivity values for the individual and the mixed particles of nano-TiO2 and nano-Ag. The loss of the anti-bacterial activity for the fabrics finished with the mixture of nano-TiO2 and nano-Ag was less than 6% and 13% after 15 times’ washing and 3000 times’ abrasion, respectively. The practicability of the fabrics finished with nano-TiO2/nanoAg/WBPU composite emulsions was strongly supported by the excellent properties of odor elimination, anti-bacteria, washing fastness and abrasion resistance. © 2010, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.