Organic antimicrobial additives were introduced to a polymer matrix by two routes. Both the resultant blend (PHGC/PP, PHGC/PA6) and the copolymer (PHGC-PA66) were spun into fibres. The chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of PHGC, PHGC/PP, PHGC/PA6 and PHGC-PA66 were investigated. Paper presented to the 83rd World Conference of the Textile Institute The need for products with antibacterial properties is on the I increase, backed by the trend of seeking a clean and comfortable living environment. Antibacterial fibres play important role in living environment, especially for hospital use, textiles and household goods. There are two methods to supply fibres with antibacterial effect. One is after-treatment with organic antibacterial additives, the other is to add antibacterial additives during the spinning process. The after-treatment method has been well known to have the deficiency that antibacterial additives will come off during washing. To add antibacterial agents during the spinning process could improve the durability of antibacterial activity. Of course antibacterial additives used in the second method should be heat-stable. Some inorganic antibacterial agents, such as Ag-zeolite and glass phosphate with sliver ion, are usually employed as antibacterial additives, kneaded to polymer before spinning (Kawata, 1998).
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