DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIFUNCTIONAL YARN FROM THE FUNCTIONALIZATION OF ORGANIC RAW COTTON FIBERS WITH ZINC NANOPARTICLES

The emergence of increasingly contagious diseases in these days, such as COVID-19, increased the need to develop more effective personal protection equipment’s (PPEs). Therefore, the goal is to create textile materials capable to act against bacteria, virus or fungi, with a long-lasting performance but, at the same time, that could be comfortable and safe for their users. In this sense, based on the advantages of nanotechnology, the aim of this work was to functionalize organic raw cotton fibers with zinc nanoparticles (NPs) and previously tretated with NaOH, for the further production of multifunctional yarns with antimicrobial activity. Thereby, the fibers functionalization was tested using 1% w/w and 2% w/w of zinc NPs aqueous dispersion, being subsequently evaluated their distribution, chemical nature and zinc concentration by SEM/EDS and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, respectively. Subsequently, using the functionalized fibers, a yarn was spinned and their structural, mechanical and moisture management properties determined. Also, to assess the influence of the produced yarn on the properties of a fibrous structure, a single jersey knit sample was further produced and evaluated regarding their mechanical, moisture management and antibacterial properties. Based on the methodology used it was possible to develop a yarn with a tenacity 24% higher and a knit sample 28% more breathable and with a water evaporating ratio 37% higher than the one without any treatment or functionalization, but mainly with a strong antibacterial activity against both gram-negative (Klebsiella Pneumoniae) and gram-positive (Staphylococcus Aureus) bacteria, presenting therefore potential to be used in the production of effective PPEs.