Study on antibacterial finishing of cotton fabric with silver nanoparticles stabilized by nanoliposomes

The main objective of this investigation was to improve the dispersion effect of silver nanoparticles on nano silver sol preparation by encapsulation of silver nanoparticles in neutral nanoliposomes (NL) and cationic nanoliposomes (CL) as an alternative to polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Prepared Ag-liposome nanocomposites and antibacterial cotton fabrics were characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM and XPS respectively. The sterilizing rate and nano silver content of CL were better compared with NL due to the positive charge of CL. The whiteness of antibacterial cotton fabrics using NL and CL as stabilizer was obviously higher than that of one using PVP as stabilizer. The cotton fabrics finished with the silver nanoparticles stabilized by PVP, NL and CL all showed a good antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, and the sterilizing rates all were above 99.34%. Furthermore, sterilizing rates of cotton fabrics using three different stabilizers still could meet the requirements of antibacterial textile after 10 and 50 times standard washing. These results indicated the potential of nanoliposomes, especially CL, as a novel stabilizer for nano silver antibacterial application.