Antibacterial polyester fibers containing silver ions. Part II. Studies on the kinetics of the release of deposited silver ions and on selected properties of modified fibers

Studies on the rate of release of silver ions from ethylene polyterephthalate (PET) fibers, which had earlier been grafted with acrylic or metacrylic acid and then impregnated with silver nitrate, into a 0.01% aqueous solution of nitric acid has been presented. The results confirm, that the Ag+ ions are released gradually and in low concentrations into the acid solution (Fig. 1. Table 1). The changes in the tensile strength of the fibers caused by the two-stage modification process was evaluated. It was observed that grafting at optimal conditions of temperature, duration and acid concentration did not influence the tensile strength of the studied PET significantly. However, a pronounced decrease in tensile strength was caused by the presence of silver ions in the fiber structure (Tables 2 and 3). In vitro determination of the antibacterial properties of the modified fibers against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was also performed.