In Situ Formation of Silver Nanoparticles within Chitosan-attached Cotton Fabric for Antibacterial Property

This work involves chemical modification of cotton fabrics by natural, biocompatible, and biodegradable polysaccharide — chitosan — followed by incorporating silver nanoparticles in the fabrics. The excellent chelating property of chitosan binds the silver metal ions that are later on reduced to nanoparticles giving rise to chitosan-attached nanosilver-loaded fabrics. The silver nanoparticles-loaded chitosan-attached fabric has been characterized by surface plasmon resonance, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and X-ray diffraction analysis. These chitosan-attached nanosilver-loaded fabrics exhibit excellent antibacterial action against model bacteria E. coli.