Nanosilver containing grafted bamboo rayon as antibacterial material

Antibacterial textiles are gaining attention due to awareness of health and hygiene and also the requirement of protection from pathogenic bacterias. Silver nanoparticles can be best utilized for imparting such properties. As silver nanoparticles impart characteristic brown colour to substrates, material is more suitable for coloured antibacterial products. In the current study the bamboo rayon fabric was grafted with acrylamide using potassium persulfate (KPS) as an initiator and further treated with silver nitrate followed by borohydride reduction. The modified product was characterized using FTIR, TGA and SEM. The characteristic brownish tinge developed after reduction was measured spectrophotometrically. The grafted bamboo rayon with nanosilver was then evaluated for antibacterial activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria and durability of their antibacterial activity after washing. The product showed antibacterial activity against both types of bacterias which was found to be durable till 50 washes.