- Anti-microbial treatment
Nonwoven materials are porous materials. Through the superposition of fibers, they form multi-layer bodies with countless pores, which can easily absorb and reproduce bacteria and other microorganisms.
The sweat, shed skin and sebum discharged by the human body provide rich nutrients for the reproduction of fungi. Therefore, nonwoven products and the human body’s microenvironment provide ideal conditions for the reproduction and growth of bacteria. Antibacterial finishing enhances the use function of nonwoven products.
Antibacterial finishing refers to the treatment of fiber products such as non-woven materials with agents having antibacterial effects, giving them antibacterial and anti-mildew properties, so that the materials have the function of inhibiting the growth of fungi.
Requirements for antimicrobial treatment of nonwoven materials
(1) Broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties;
(2) Non-toxic to users and non-allergenic to skin;
(3) Good air permeability;
(4) The finishing agent does not damage the fiber and does not cause the material to change color;
(5) No pollution to the environment and can be naturally degraded in the environment;
(6) Compatible with other finishing agents;
(7) Does not affect the original material properties;
(8) Low cost and easy processing.
Commonly used antibacterial agents and antibacterial mechanisms
- Metal salt antibacterial agents. This type of antibacterial agent mainly includes silver nitrate, mercuric chloride, tin oxide, etc. Its antibacterial mechanism is that under the action of metal ions such as silver ions, the structure of proteins in microbial cells is destroyed, causing metabolic obstruction.
- Organic quaternary ammonium salt antibacterial agents. In this type of antibacterial agent, the quaternary ammonium salt cations are electrostatically adsorbed with the anion sites on the surface of microbial cells, and the hydrophobic effect is added to destroy the surface structure of microbial cells.
- Copper compound antibacterial agents. The copper ions in the polyacrylonitrile copper sulfide complex destroy the cell membrane of microorganisms and combine with the hydrophobic base of the enzyme in the cell, thereby reducing the activity of the enzyme and hindering its metabolic function.
- Organic nitrogen antibacterial agents. In comparative tests, it is believed that its antibacterial power is stronger than quaternary ammonium salts and diphenyl ether antibacterial agents.
- Natural antibacterial materials. This type of material, such as chitosan in chitin, has positively charged amino groups in its molecules that adsorb bacteria and combine with bacterial cell wall anions, hindering the growth and synthesis of bacteria.
- Others include halogen and phenol antibacterial agents, such as hypochlorite, N-chloramine, halogenated bisphenol, etc.
Related Functional nonwoven fabric Products
The use of antimicrobial treatment agents in non-woven fabrics
Nonwoven fabrics mainly adopt the antibacterial fiber method, that is, the antibacterial finishing agent is first blended with the spinning masterbatch to obtain the blended masterbatch, and then the antibacterial nonwoven fabric is made by meltblowing, spunbonding or other methods.
Due to the simple and easy post-finishing processing method, the proportion of antibacterial nonwoven fabrics containing inorganic antibacterial finishing agents processed by post-finishing methods has increased rapidly in recent years.
Inorganic antibacterial finishing agents mainly include antibacterial finishing agents containing metal ions, photocatalytic inorganic antibacterial finishing agents, metal oxide antibacterial finishing agents, and rare earth activated health care antibacterial finishing agents.
Natural antibacterial finishing agents are mainly extracts of some natural animals and plants, which are highly safe, meet the requirements of environmental protection, and are easy to be accepted by consumers. In particular, in recent years, natural antibacterial finishing agents have become a hot spot for the development of antibacterial textiles and nonwoven fabrics. Natural antibacterial finishing agents mainly include plant extracts and chitosan antibacterial finishing agents.