Preparation of a Novel Bio-Antibacterial PET Nonwoven Fabrics and Antibacterial Activity Evaluation

A novel antibacterial material (P-PET) was prepared by immobilizing ε-polylysine on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nonwoven fabrics in this study. Surface modifications of the fabric were performed by chemically modified procedure: creating carboxyl groups onto PET surface, grafting coupling agent and immobilizing the ε-polylysine. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze the surface morphology of the fabrics, while Toluidine blue method and X ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) method were used to evaluate the grafting densities. The antibacterial activities of the P-PET were investigated by using the shaking-flask method. The electron micrographs showed that there were not any changes to the surface of the blank PET and modified fabrics. The results of XPS analysis confirmed that εε-polylysine was successfully grafted onto the surface of PET. The results of antibacterial experiments showed that P-PET fabrics had excellent antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and that P-PET fabrics were stable in storage for at least two years.