A novel polyvinyl alcohol–tragacanth/nano silver hydrogel on polyester fabric through in situ synthesis method

This research introduces a novel hydrogel polyester fabric treated with mixture of synthetic/natural hydrophilic polymers along with in situ synthesis of nano silver through reduction of silver nitrate. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and tragacanth were used as the most common synthetic and natural hydrophilic polymers, citric acid as a friendly cross-linking agent, and sodium hypophosphite as catalyst. Various characteristics of the treated fabrics including water absorption capacity just before dripping, drying time of the wetted fabric, moisture regain, water retention value, vertical wicking, and antimicrobial properties against a Gram positive ( Staphylococcus aureus) and a Gram negative ( Escherichia coli) bacteria were investigated. SEM images and EDX patterns were also obtained to characterize the surface morphology and elemental analysis of the finished fabrics. The size of small crystalline region was calculated through XRD data and the chemical structure of the samples was identified with FTIR spectra. The finished fabric showed the higher moisture absorption and time of drying with very good anti-bacterial properties.