J O U R N A L O F M A T E R I A L S S C I E N C E 3 8 (2 0 0 3 ) 2199 – 2204

Antibacterial effect of nanosized silver colloidal

solution on textile fabrics
H. J. LEE, S. Y. YEO, S. H. JEONG
Department of Fiber & Polymer Engineering, College of Engineering,
Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea
E-mail: [email protected]

This paper deals with the antibacterial efficacy of nanosized silver colloidal solution on the
cellulosic and synthetic fabrics. Two kinds of Bacteria; Gram-positive and Gram-negative,
were used. TEM observation of silver nanoparticles showed their shape, and size
distribution. The particles were very small (2–5 nm) and had narrow distribution. SEM
images of treated fabrics indicated silver nanoparticles were well dispersed on the surfaces
of specimens. WAXS patterns did not show any peak of silver as the fabric had very small
quantity of silver particles. However, ICP-MS informed the residual concentration of silver
particles on fabrics before/after laundering. The antibacterial treatment of the textile fabrics
was easily achieved by padding them with nanosized silver colloidal solution. The
antibacterial efficacy of the fabrics was maintained after many times laundering.
C 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers

1. Introduction This raises many issues regarding to new materials for

With the advent of improved human life, a new area achieving specific processes and selectivity. The uses
has developed in the realm of textile finishing. The con- of nanostructured materials and systems become more
trol of microorganisms on textile fabrics extends into widespread. Nanophasic and nanostructured materials
diverse areas as the hospital environment and every- are attracting a great deal of attention because of their
day household. Although textiles wholly made of nat- potential applications in technical areas. As investiga-
ural fibers or synthetic fibers, neither natural nor syn- tions and researches for nanotechnology are inherently
thetic fibers have resistance to bacteria or pathogenic multidisciplinary, we have focused nanotechnology to
fungi. Thus, various antibacterial finishes and disinfec- consolidate into bacteriostasis of textile fabrics.
tion techniques have been developed for all types of The trend to smaller and smaller structures, miniatur-
textiles. For a long time the chemical agents in use for ization, is well known in the manufacturing of micro-
controlling microorganisms range from the very sim- electronics [7]. In the materials area this same trend to-
ple substances such as halogen ions to the very com- wards miniaturization is also occurring, but for different
plex compounds typified by the detergents. Many of reason. Smallness in itself is not the goal. Novel prop-
these agents have been employed for generations, while erties of nanoscaled materials will make new break-
others represent the latest developments [1, 2]. Sev- throughs in a multitude of technologically important
eral new antibacterial agents of textiles based on metal areas. One of the material scientists’ particular inter-
salt solutions (CuSO4 or ZnSO4 ) or zinc pyrithione ests is the fact that nanostructured materials have higher
(Zn(1-hydroxy-2-pyridinethione)2 ) have been devel- surface area than conventional materials [8]. By this
oped recently [3, 4]. But pure metals have not been used reason, small number of silver nanoparticles can well
normally for antibacterial finishing. The wide variety disperse to the surface of fibers by padding of colloidal
of equipment available for application and the curing solution and inhibit the growth of microorganisms.
limitations of some companies require that the effects Heavy metals are usually toxic and very reactive
of variations in curing conditions be known to obtain with proteins [9, 10]. They are believed to bind protein
the desired quality products. The high level of bacterial molecules, the cellular metabolism in inhibited, and the
resistance obtained by simple application techniques at microorganism dies. For instance, silver is useful as an
low processing costs has resulted in commercial interest antiseptic and disinfectant [11]. Bacterial cells are con-
by many textile finishers. By this reason, we developed stantly exposed to stressful situations and an ability to
new antibacterial finishing with using simple method resist those stresses is essential for their survival [12].
by taking advantages of nanotechnology. The ability of microorganisms to grow in the presence
Nanotechnology is concerned with materials whose of metal containing might result from specific mech-
structures exhibit significantly novel and improved anisms of resistance. Such mechanisms include alter-
physical, chemical, and biological properties, phenom- ation of chemical structure or and toxicity by changes
ena, and functionality due to their nanoscaled size [5, 6]. in the redox state of the metal ions. However, silver has

0022–2461 
C 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers 2199
been well known as non-toxic in spite of claimed to kill tration was 1.3–1.6 × 105 /ml. 0.5% non-ionic agent was
many different disease organisms. In literatures, silver used to wet the fabric samples with inoculum solution.
is skin friendly and does not cause skin irritation [13]. Bacteriostatic activity of colloidal solution was eval-
We suppose, the rapid growth of coating and dis- uated after certain contact time and calculated percent
persion technology using nanoparticles will improve reduction of bacteria. Using the following equation
the properties of their substances as the area of coat-
ing and dispersions has seen tremendous advances over A−B
the past decades. These advances cover the spectrum R (%) = × 100
A
from scientific achievements resulting from long-term
research to commercial successes. In this research, the Where R = the reduction rate, A = the number of bacte-
nanoscaled silver particles were dispersed on the tex- rial colonies from untreated fabrics, and B = the num-
tile fabrics to be evaluated antibacterial effect and its bers of bacterial colonies from treated fabrics.
durability. Morphological observations of shape, size, and its
distribution of nano-scaled silver particles were carried
2. Experimental out with transmission electron microscope (TEM) on
Cotton fabric weighting 109 g/m2 , Polyester fabric JEOL 2000FX operated at 200 kV and employed with
weighting 89 g/m2 , polyester/cotton blended fabric (ra- up to 200,000 magnification. The specimen on the grid
tio of 65/35) weighting 80 g/m2 , and polyester/spandex was shadowed with platinum in order to increase con-
blended fabric (ratio of 92/8) weighting 85 g/m2 were trast of image [14].
desized, scoured, bleached. Experiments were per- For the surface observation of treated fabrics, the
formed on samples with maximum dimensions 97 cm × scanning electron microscope (SEM) was operated
97 cm. at 5 kV on JEOL JSM-6330F with up to 20,000
The ethanol based nonosilver colloids was supplied magnifications.
from Nano EnC. Co. Ltd., at the concentration of Wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) measure-
2,000 ppm. This colloidal solution was diluted with ments were carried out on Rigaku Denki X-ray gen-
distilled water by 50 ppm and 25 ppm at RT for our erator using Cu Kα radiation operated by 40 kV and
experimentation. Padding was performed at the con- 100 mA. Scan region and speed was 5◦ ≤ 2θ ≤ 35◦
stant pressure for all samples after wet pickup of 83% (2θ is scattering angle, θ is Bragg angle) and 5◦ /min,
through of colloids bath. respectively.
Cotton and polyester fabrics were padded through Inductively coupled plasma-Mass spectroscopy
25 ppm and 50 ppm silver colloids. First eight pieces (ICP-MS) was used on Perkin-Elmer Sciex ELAN-
of cotton and polyester samples were padded before 5000 to measure the remained quantity of silver parti-
dyeing, respectively. Thereafter, other eight pieces of cles. We compared the concentration of silver particles
cotton and polyester fabrics were padded after dyeing, on fabrics before washing to the particles on them after
respectively. Some samples were rinsed in water after 5, 10, 20 times washing.
padding at 25◦ C and the others were not. We detected
bacterial reductions on all occasions and compared
them to find out the optimal process of antibacterial fin- 3. Results and discussion
ishing. Printed wovens which were made polyester and The morphological appearance of nano-sized silver par-
polyester/cotton blended, were padded through 50 ppm ticles was observed by TEM (Fig. 1). The shape of
silver colloids before printing. Polyester/spandex particles was spherical. The diameter of particles was
blended knits were padded through 50 ppm silver col- estimated at 2–5 nm.
loidal solution before bleaching or dyeing. We also Nanosized silver particles in colloidal solution had
measured bacterial reduction of printed wovens and excellent antibacterial effect on all specimens against
stretchable knit after antibacterial treatment. Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Table I
Three kinds of fabrics—cotton wovens treated af- shows the antibacterial effect of nanosized silver col-
ter dyeing, cotton wovens treated before printing, loidal solution on cotton and polyester wovens. We
and polyester wovens treated after dyeing – were tried to compare the antibacterial effect of our samples
tested laundering durability of antibacterial effect after which were padded through colloidal solution before
5 cycles, 10 cycles, and 20 cycles washing. We laun- dyeing with the padded samples after dyeing. In the
dered our samples with the machine set for warm water result, bacterial reductions of all specimens were very
(40 ± 3◦ C) at normal cycle. After each laundering the excellent against S. aureus and K. pneumoniae. The
fabrics were tumble dired in an electric dryer at 70◦ C. bacterial reduction was more effective when the speci-
The antibacterial properties were quantitatively eval- mens were treated with silver colloids after dyeing than
uated against Staphylococcus aureus (A. aureus), when treated before dyeing. The fabrics padded through
ATCC6538, a Gram-positive bacterium and Klebsiela 50 ppm silver colloidal solution also had better bacte-
pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae), ATCC 4352, a Gram- riostasis than the samples treated with 25 ppm solution.
negative bacterium, according to KS K 0905-1996 test Rinsing after padding reduced the antibacterial efficacy
method. The specimens were placed on germ con- of treated fabrics. But the numerical differences of bac-
taining agar plates, inoculated with S. aureus, and terial reductions are not significant as shown in Table I.
K. pneumoniae, then incubated in an agar media. The The fiber surfaces of antibacterial treated fabrics
sample diameter was 4.8 ± 0.1 cm. Inoculum concen- were observed by SEM micrographs. In Fig. 2, SEM
2200
T A B L E I Antibacterial effect of nano-silver colloids on cotton and polyester fabrics

S. aureus
RAT 25a NAT 25b RAT 50c NAT 50d
Samples Start 1.3 × 105 1.3 × 105 1.3 × 105 1.3 × 105

Cotton TBDe After 24 hrs. <10 <10 1.5 × 105 <10

% reduction 99.9 99.9 99.8 99.9
TADf After 24 hrs. <10 <10 1.6 × 105 <10
% reduction 99.9 99.9 99.8 99.9
Polyester TBDe After 24 hrs. <10 2.4 × 105 3.8 × 106 <10
% reduction 99.9 99.7 95.3 99.9
TADf After 24 hrs. <10 <10 1.6 × 105 <10
% reduction 99.9 99.9 99.8 99.9
K. pneumoniae RAT 25a NAT 25b RAT 50c NAT 50d

Samples Start 1.5 × 105 1.5 × 105 1.5 × 105 1.5 × 105

Cotton TBDe After 24 hrs. 1.9 × 105 <10 <10 <10

% reduction 99.7 99.9 99.9 99.9
TADf After 24 hrs. <10 <10 1.2 × 105 <10
% reduction 99.9 99.9 99.8 99.9
Polyester TBDe After 24 hrs. 6.8 × 105 1.3 × 105 3.1 × 105 1.9 × 105
% reduction 98.9 99.8 99.5 99.7
TADf After 24 hrs. <10 <10 <10 <10
% reduction 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9

a Rinsed after antibacterial treatment with 25 ppm nanosized silver colloidal solution.
b Not rinsed after antibacterial treatment with 25 ppm nanosized silver colloidal solution.
c Rinsed after antibacterial treatment with 50 ppm nanosized silver colloidal solution.
d Not rinsed after antibacterial treatment with 50 ppm nanosized silver colloidal solution.
e Antibacterial treated before dyeing.
f Antibacterial treated after dyeing.

excellent whether the samples were made of pure cot-

ton or cotton blended with polyester.
We tried same treatment on knitted fabrics. Table III
shows the antibacterial effect of nanoscaled silver col-
loidal solution on knitted stretchable single span fabrics
which were padded through 50 ppm colloidal solution

T A B L E I I Antibacterial effect of nano-silver colloids on printed

fabrics

CBPa CPBPb

S. aureus Start 1.6 × 105 1.6 × 105

After 24 hrs. <10 <10
% reduction 99.9 99.9
K. pneumoniae Start 1.4 × 105 1.4 × 105
After 24 hrs. <10 <10
% reduction 99.9 99.9

a Padded 50 ppm nanosized silver colloidal solution on cotton wovens

before printing.
b Padded 50 ppm nanosized silver colloidal solution on cotton/polyester

blended wovens before printing.

T A B L E I I I Antibacterial effect of nano-silver colloids on knitted

stretchable single span fabrics

KBBa KBDb

Figure 1 HR-TEM picture of nano-silver particles (×200 K). S. aureus Start 1.6 × 105 1.6 × 105
After 24 hrs. 1.4 × 105 <10
% reduction 95.1 99.9
images show the nanoscaled silver particles on cotton E. coli Start 1.4 × 105 1.4 × 105
(a) and polyester (b) fabrics. The silver nanoparticles After 24 hrs. <10 <10
are well dispersed on fiber surfaces in each fabric. % reduction 99.9 99.9
Table II explains the antibacterial effect of nanosized a Padded 50 ppm nanosized silver colloidal solution on polyester/spandex
silver colloids on printed fabrics those were padded blended knits before bleaching.
through 50 ppm colloidal solution before printing. b Padded 50 ppm nanosized silver colloidal solution on polyester/spandex

The antibacterial effects of printed fabrics were also blended knits before dyeing.

2201
Figure 2 SEM images of nano-silver particles on cotton (a) and polyester (b) (×20 K).

before bleaching or dyeing. The antibacterial effect of washing. We need to develop the finishing process to
them was also good as shown their bacterial reduction attach silver nanoparticles on fabric dynamically for the
in Table III. The bacteriostasis against S. aureus on dyed excellent laundering durability.
sample was better than bleached sample. WAXS of pure cotton and polyester fabrics were
Table IV shows excellent laundering durability of compared to the samples those were padded through
bacteriostasis of colloidal silver. Polyester woven fab- 50 ppm nano-silver colloidal solution and laundered 5,
ric had good antibacterial effect against S. aureus by 10, and 20 times respectively after antibacterial treat-
20 times washing, otherwise the bacterial reduction ment. The patterns did not show any peak of silver on
against K. pneumoniae was not significant. All cotton all cotton (Fig. 3) nor polyester (Fig. 4) fabrics. We
fabrics, dyed or printed, had excellent bacteriostasis suppose the treated fabrics have too small quantity of
against S. aureus and K. pneumoniae by 20 times wash- silver to affect on WAXS peaks of our samples.
ing. Only the cotton fabric that was dyed before treat- Remained silver particles on fabric before washing or
ment had not good bacterial reduction after 20 times after washing were measured quantitatively with using

2202
T A B L E I V Laundering durability of antibacterial effect of nano- T A B L E V Ag concentration on treated cotton fabrics
silver colloids on fabrics
Ag concentration (ppm)
S. aureus
a b c
Cotton I Cotton II Polyester 1st test 2nd test
Before washing Start 1.3 × 105 1.3 × 105 1.3 × 105
Before washing 31.8 26.7
After 5 cycles After 24 hrs. <10 ND 5.7 × 106 After 5 cycles 4.3 3.4
% reduction 99.9 – 91.6 After 10 cycles 2.7 2.2
After 10 cycles After 24 hrs. 1.2 × 106 <10 7.3 × 106 After 20 cycles 2.2 2.0
% reduction 98.2 99.9 89.3
After 20 cycles After 24 hrs. 6.3 × 106 1.9.3 × 107 1.1 × 107
% reduction 90.8 97.2 84.3
K. pneumoniae Cotton Ia Cotton IIb Polyesterc ICP-MS. Table V shows the silver concentration on cot-
ton fabrics before washing and that of after washing.
Before washing Start 1.4 × 105 1.4 × 105 1.4 × 105 The concentrations of silver particles were decreased
rapidly after 5 times laundering. The result indicates
After 5 cycles After 24 hrs. 2.7 × 106 ND 4.6 × 107
% reduction 96.2 – 36.5 nano-silver particles were heavy coupled on their sub-
After 10 cycles After 24 hrs. 5.2 × 106 <10 5.4 × 107 strates and they can have a good bacteriostasis even
% reduction 92.8 99.9 24.8 only small quantity of nano-silver particles exists on
After 20 cycles After 24 hrs. 5.0 × 107 3,900,000 6.1 × 107 fabrics because nanoscaled materials have high ratio of
% reduction 30.4 94.5 15.3
particle number to volume.
a Padded 50 ppm nanosized silver colloidal solution on cotton wovens
after dyeing.
b Padded 50 ppm nanosized silver colloidal solution on cotton wovens

before print.
4. Conclusion
c Padded 50 ppm nanosized silver colloidal solution on polyester wovens We investigated the antibacterial effect of nanosized
after dyeing. silver colloidal solution against S. aureus and K. pneu-
moniae when we padded the solution on textile fabrics.
TEM observation of nano-silver particles informed
their shape and size distribution. In SEM images, nano-
silver particles were well dispersed on their substrate.
WAXS patterns did not show any peak of silver on
all fabric samples because of small quantity of silver.
ICP-MS indicates quantitatively the remained silver
concentration of fabrics before/after laundering.
Antibacterial efficacy on textile fabrics was easily
achieved with using nanosized silver colloidal solu-
tion by padding process, and had a good laundering
durability.

References
1. E . R . T R O T M A N , “Dyeing and Chemical Technology of Textile
Figure 3 WAXS patterns of cotton (a), cotton padded 50 ppm of nano- Fibers” (John Wiley & Sons Inc., NY, 1984) p. 252.
silver colloids (b), after 5 times washing (c), after 10 times washing (d), 2. B . F . S M I T H and I . B L O C K , “Textiles in Perspective” (Prentice-
and after 20 times washing (e). Hall, Inc., NJ, 1982) p. 326.
3. C . E . M O R R I S and C . M . W E L C H , Textile Research Journal
53 (1983) 725.
4. T . N A K A S H I M A , Y . S A K A G A M I , H . I T O and M .
M A T S U O , ibid. 71 (2001) 688.
5. Z . L . W A N G , “Characterization of Nanophase Material” (Wiley-
VCH Verlag GmbH, Weinheim, 2000) p. 1.
6. H . C R A I G H E A D and K . L E O N G , “Nanotechnology Research
Direction: Biotechnology, Medicine, and Healthcare” edited by
M. C. Roco, R. S. Williams and P. Alivisatos (Kluwer Academic
Publishers, Netherlands, 2000) p. 164.
7. S . N . K H A N N A , “Handbook of Nanophase Materials:
Effect on Properties of Reduced Size and Dimensions”
edited by A. N. Goldstein (Marcel Dekker, Inc., NY, 1997)
p. 2.
8. D . M . C O X , “Nanostructure Science and Technology: High
Surface Area Materials” edited by R. W. Siegel, E. Hu and M.
C. Roco (International Technology Research Institute, VA, 1999)
p. 49.
9. D . P . E . D I C K S O N , Journal Magn. Mater. 203 (1999) 46.
Figure 4 WAXS patterns of polyester (a), polyester padded 50 ppm of 10. R . C R A W F O R D , I . H . H A R D I N G and D . E .
nano-silver colloids (b), after 5 times washing (c), after 10 times washing M A I N W A R I N G , “Surfaces of Nanoparticles and Porous Mate-
(d), and after 20 times washing (e). rials: Hydrous Metal Oxides as Adsorbents for Aqueous Heavy

2203
 Metals” edited by J. A. Schwarz and C. I. Contescu (Marcel Dekker, 13. T . K . J O E G E R , R . J O E G E R , E . O L S S O N and C . G .
Inc., NY, 1999) p. 676. G R A N Q V I S T , Trades in Biotechnology 19 (2001) 15.
11. I . E . A L C A M O , “Fundamentals of Microbiology” (The 14. J . J . B O Z Z O L A and L . D . R U S S E L L , “Electron Microscopy”
Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc., CA, 1991) p. 61, (Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Boston, 1995) p. 186.
748.
12. G . J . T O R T O R A , B . R . F U N K E and C . L . C A S E ,
“Microbiology” (The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Received 15 August
Inc., CA, 1992) p. 174, 273 and accepted 12 November 2002

2204