The end of the road for pathogens?
12/12/2013
Most infection-induced respiratory problems are caused by viruses and textiles can play a part in spreading pathogens.
The test included cleaning cloths in which, for the first time, antiviral and antibacterial effectiveness were combined with each other in one functional textile finishing.
"Over the long term, we are interested in finding out whether the risk of infection, that is to say the spread of germs from person to person, can be reduced by using biofunctional textiles in the future," said Prof Höfer, head of the hygiene, environment and medicine department.
To achieve this goal, various organic and inorganic colloidal or nanoparticle copper compounds and copper complexes were first applied in a sol-gel process. The effectiveness of the textile microfibre substrate was optimised using various application techniques such as foulard or spray methods.
The inactivation of the test viruses was significant, was retained over 15 washing cycles and was at the same time abrasion resistant.
A second alternative antiviral finish of microfibre cloths was achieved by finishing with copper pigments in a high-temperature exhaust process. In a similar way to dying with dispersion dyes, the dispersed copper pigments were incorporated in the fibres in a slightly acid environment. In a second step, fixing was carried out using a polymer binding agent in a cold padding process to protect the copper particles against mechanical abrasion. These copper finishes also produced good evenness, but there was a slight green tone compared to the originally lighter fabric. All samples passed the laboratory tests on skin-friendliness.
The finished microfibre cloths absorbed 91% of the applied viruses. At the same time, the virus concentration in the cloth was reduced by approximately 90%.
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