Effect of hydrophilic procedures on carboxyl content and antimicrobial activity of silver-treated nylon 6,6 fabrics

Abstract This paper presents the improvement of the hydrophilicity of nylon fabrics on different knit designs using the Hydrowick NA process with a combination of antimicrobial silver application and characterization of the treated fabrics by FTIR, SEM, XPS and antimicrobial activity tests using the AATCC 100 test method and moisture regain test. Antibacterial nylon fabrics have been developed by incorporating antibacterial agents into the structure of the fibres, for longer durability and effect, rather than just depositing them on the surface. Hydrophilic processes have an impact on the antimicrobial activity, resistance to repeated washing and moisture regain of the nylon fabrics. The nylon fabrics showed higher antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus after the hydrophilic finishing process. It can be seen that there is a correlation between a decrease in bacterial growth and an increase in the concentration of the hydrophilic agent. The results showed that the weft-knitted nylon using the Hydrowick NA process had higher moisture regain at the same surface weight per unit of textile. Analysis of variance with p < 0.05 showed that the results were statistically significant. The 1 × 1 rib double jersey weft-knitted nylon fabrics showed the highest antimicrobial performance. It was also observed that the surface area of the fabric was also decisive for the antimicrobial activity.