Antimicrobial functionalization of textile materials with hydrophobins and Ag/ZnO composite nanopowders

The purpose of the research was to achieve antimicrobial textiles made of cotton and polyester yams by functionalization with hydrophobins and pigments of Ag/ZnO composite nanopowders. The cofioidal suspensions consisting in Ag nanoparticles deposited on ZnO nanoparticles were obtained by chemical synthesis. By forming protein layers of hydrophobins, a better uniformity and fixation of AgNp/ZnONp on textile materials was aimed due to the formation of ionic bonds with functional groups, of oxo bridges, bonding through Van der Waals forces or integration in the proteins conformational structure. The treated materials were analyzed in terms of physical-mechanical and antimicrobial effectiveness. The results demonstrated that the used method allows the deposition of a uniform hydrophobins layer to which AgNp/ZnONp adhere strongly. The physical-mechanical characteristics insignificantly modify to the initial, untreated material, preserving wear comfort. Bioassays showed high efficiency against tested microorganisms.