Obtaining Medical Textiles Based on Viscose and Chitosan/Zinc Nanoparticles with Improved Antibacterial Properties by Using a Dielectric Barrier Discharge

• Published in: Polymers Vol. 14; no. 19; p. 4152
• Main Authors: Korica, Matea D, Kramar, Ana, Peršin Fratnik, Zdenka, Obradović, Bratislav, Kuraica, Milorad M, Dojčinović, Biljana, Fras Zemljič, Lidija, Kostić, Mirjana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 04-10-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Aldehydes; Aluminum; Analysis; Antibacterial agents; Atmospheric pressure; Bacterial infections; Calcium acetate; Caustic soda; Cellulose; Chitosan; Diameters; Dielectric barrier discharge; Durability; Electrodes; Fabrics; Functional groups; Gas plasmas; Inductively coupled plasma; Laboratories; Nanoparticles; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Sodium; Textile composites; Textile fabrics; Textile industry; Textiles; Washing; Zeta potential; Zinc; Zinc compounds; Serbia; viscose; antibacterial properties; chitosan/zinc nanoparticles; dielectric barrier discharge; medical textiles
• ISSN: 2073-4360; 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/polym14194152

This study aimed to obtain functional viscose textiles based on chitosan coatings with improved antibacterial properties and washing durability. For that reason, before functionalization with chitosan/zinc nanoparticles (NCH+Zn), the viscose fabric was modified by nonthermal gas plasma of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) to introduce into its structure functional groups suitable for attachment of NCH+Zn. NCH+Zn were characterized by measurements of hydrodynamic diameter and zeta potential and AFM. DBD-plasma-modified and NCH+Zn-functionalized fabrics were characterized by zeta potential measurements, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, the calcium acetate method (determination of content of carboxyl and aldehyde groups), SEM, breaking-strength measurements, elemental analysis, and ICP-OES. Their antibacterial activity was determined under dynamic contact conditions. In addition to SEM, the NCH+Zn distributions on viscose fabrics were also indirectly characterized by measuring their absorbent capacities before and after functionalization with NCH+Zn. Washing durability was monitored through changes in the zeta potential, chitosan and zinc content, and antibacterial activity after 1, 3, and 5 washing cycles. The obtained results showed that DBD plasma modification contributed to the simultaneous improvement of NCH+Zn sorption and antibacterial properties of the viscose fabric functionalized with NCH+Zn, and its washing durability, making it suitable for the production of high-value-added medical textiles.