Development of novel segmented-pie microfibers from copper-carbon nanoparticles and polyamide composite for antimicrobial textiles application

Abstract

Development of novel antibacterial fibers with mass production is urgently required in the technical textiles industry. In this paper, a series of segmented-pie composite microfibers based on polyamide 6 (PA6) and different amounts of copper–carbon nanoparticles (CuCNPs) were fabricated by utilizing a melt-spinning apparatus with twin-screw extruders. The encapsulation of CuCNPs and the formation of segmented-pie structure of as-prepared PA6/CuCNP microfibers were confirmed. The CuCNPs or their agglomeration with an average diameter of approximately 200 nm exhibited a uniform distribution in PA6/CuCNP segmented-pie microfibers. Compared with the pure PA6 microfibers, the PA6/CuCNP segmented-pie microfibers showed obviously enhanced crystallinity, thermal stability as well as UV resistance. As the CuCNP content increased to 1.0 wt%, the tensile strength and initial modulus increased to 3.79 cN/dtex and 22.4 cN/dtex, respectively. Importantly, the PA6/CuCNP segmented-pie microfibers presented excellent antimicrobial activities to both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (antimicrobial efficiency around 99%) and great antifungal activity to Candida albicans (antimicrobial efficiency around 82%). Taken together, our present study demonstrated that the PA6/CuCNP segmented-pie microfibers show great prospects in the fabrication of technical textiles for healthcare applications.

Effect of Copper Selenide Modification on the Conductivity of PA6, PA66, PAN, and PES Fibers

“…First of all, the dominant peaks were associated with strong C, O, and N signals in synthetic fibers, as well as with complex Cu and Se X-ray lines (Figure 11). Other investigators [29][30][31] also reported peaks corresponding to C, O, and N obtained from the analysis of untreated PAN fibers, PA6 fibers [32], PA66 [33], and PES fibers [34]. The Cu and Se peaks emanating from the Cu x Se coatings confirmed the formation of a welldefined thin coating layer.…”

“…Other investigators [29][30][31] also reported peaks corresponding to C, O, and N obtained from the analysis of untreated PAN fibers, PA6 fibers [32], PA66 [33], and PES fibers [34]. The Cu and Se peaks emanating from the CuxSe coatings confirmed the formation of a well-defined thin coating layer.…”

Evaluation of the wound healing efficacy of new antibacterial polymeric nanofiber based on polyethylene oxide coated with copper nanoparticles and defensin peptide: An in-vitro to in-vivo assessment

“…Wound infection and the spread of infection through hospital textiles are serious concerns in hospitals. Therefore, several studies have been conducted to produce antimicrobial textiles in the past few years [ [3] , [4] , [5] ]. The main challenge of this research is the requirement for materials that do not cause toxicity, allergies, or sensitivities.…”

Highly Specialized Textiles with Antimicrobial Functionality—Advances and Challenges

“…Subsequently, the scientific literature recorded an increase in the number of articles reporting on antimicrobial textiles and their specific finishing, reagents, and processing. A bibliometric analysis indicated in 2021 a number of publications of 534 articles per year [5], but the domain is very active and the rapid progress is abundantly documented by the most recent literature reports, which also illustrate the variety of new features connected to the subject [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25].…”