Antibacterial properties of padded PP/PE nonwovens incorporating nano-sized silver colloids

This paper deals with the effects that nano-sized silver colloids have on the antibacterial properties of PE/PP nonwovens against three kinds of bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli. These silver colloids comprise silver nanoparticles that are a non-toxic and non-tolerant disinfectant. PE/PP nonwovens are used as back sheets or coverstocks of baby diapers, adult diapers, sanitary napkins, and wipes. These materials are readily contaminated by bacteria present in moisture and dirt and can cause disease. We finished the nonwovens using a normal dipping–pad–dry method. From SEM images, we determined that the silver nanoparticles were generally dispersed well on the surface of the nonwoven fibers. We used the AATCC-100 test method to study the antibacterial properties of the treated fabrics. Bacteria were disinfected completely to below a count of 10 cells after 10 min when using the samples treated with 10 ppm of silver colloids. The ethanol-based silver/sulfur composite colloid (SNSE) has the best antibacterial efficacy when compared with the other nano-sized silver colloids. The silver particles having the smallest sizes gave the higher dispersibilities and the strongest antibacterial efficacies.