Synthesis of Ag/CNT hybrid nanoparticles and fabrication of their nylon-6 polymer nanocomposite fibers for antimicrobial applications.

Ag-coated CNTs hybrid nanoparticles (Ag/CNTs) were prepared by ultrasonic irradiation of dimethylformamide (DMF) and silver (I) acetate precursors in the presence of CNTs. The morphology of Ag/CNTs was characterized using x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The Nylon-6 powder and 1 wt% Ag/CNTs mixture was dispersed uniformly using a noncontact spinning technique. The dried mixture was melted in a single screw extrusion machine and then extruded through an orifice. Extruded filaments were later stretched and stabilized by sequentially passing them through a set of tension adjusters and a secondary heater. The Nylon-6/Ag/CNT hybrid polymer nanocomposite (HPNC) fibers, which were of approximately 80 microm size, were tested for their tensile properties. The failure stress and modulus of the extruded HPNC fibers (doped with 1% Ag/CNTs) was about 72.19 % and 342.62% higher than the neat extruded Nylon-6 fiber, respectively. DSC results indicated an increase in the thermal stability and crystallization for HPNC fibers. The antibacterial activity of the Ag-coated CNTs, commercial Ag, neat Nylon-6 and plain CNTs were evaluated. Ag-coated CNTs at 25 microg demonstrated good antimicrobial activity against four common bacterial pathogens as tested by the Kirby-Bauer assay. The mean diameters of the zones of inhibition were 27.9 +/- 6.72 mm, 19.4 +/- 3.64 mm, 21.9 +/- 4.33 mm, and 24.1 +/- 4.14 mm, respectively, for Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. By comparison, those obtained using the broad spectrum antibiotic amoxicillin-clavulanic acid were 37.7 +/- 2.13 mm, 28.6 +/- 4.27 mm, 22.6 +/- 1.27 mm, and 27.0 +/- 1.41 mm, respectively, for the same strains. The zones of inhibition obtained for Nylon-6 Ag-coated CNT powder at 25 microg were also high, ranging from 15.2 to 25.3 mm in contrast to commercial silver or neat Nylon-6, which did not inhibit the bacterial strains tested. Further, the Nylon-6 nanocomposite fibers infused with Ag/CNTs inhibited bacterial growth by 11-20%. Our results suggest that nylon nanocomposite fibers infused with Ag-coated CNTs have significant antimicrobial activity.