Preparation and characterization of cotton/silver nanocomposite materials by surface post-modification with methylthiocarbene

Cotton/silver nanocomposite materials have been intensively investigated owing to their excellent microbial resistance of natural cottons, allowing wide employment in health care products and medical science. In this paper, a one-step modification by carbenes was used for the methylthio functionalization of cottons, and the subsequent coordination of methylthio groups with Ag NPs gave cotton/Ag NPs materials. Application to various substrates including cotton fibers, cotton fabrics, and filter papers demonstrated the method to be effective and universal. Moreover, a bioassay experiment showed excellent antibacterial activity of these materials, which further confirmed the success of the strategy. This would be a pioneer for the carbene modification to introduce sulfur functions onto surfaces and interfaces, as well as the extending development of cotton/Ag NPs materials by typical Ag–S coordination.