Production of Antimicrobial Nonwoven Fabrics Based on Polyamide-6 (PA-6) Fibers on Industrial Scale

The ultimate goal of this article is to produce antimicrobial PA-6 nonwoven fabrics on industrial scale. Therefore, the adaptation and development of pilot conditions for imparting PA textile materials antimicrobial properties is highly needed. This will pave the way for establishment a technological package for the production of antimicrobial PA nonwoven fabrics on industrial scale. The effect of semi-industrial scale finishing conditions, mainly antimicrobial substrate (AS) concentration, duration and temperature on the (%) colony forming unit (CFU) reduction after treatment with aqueous solutions of AS was examined. The antimicrobial activity of PA treated with AS fibers against S. areus , E. Coli and C. albicans was investigated using the shake flask method. All PA-6 fibers bounded with AS showed outstanding antimicrobial activities against the previously mentioned three microorganisms. In fact the % of CFU reduction for all PA-6 samples are significant, whereas it is null for the parent fibers.