CeramiCoat No-bugs: anti-bacterial treatment

In the last few years, the customer’s desire for comfort, hygiene and well-being, concerning odour control and microorganisms protection, has created a large and rapidly increasing market for the expansion of antimicrobial textiles. Bacteria are unicellular organisms, which grow very rapidly in warm and moist conditions. They can be divided into two families and some specific types of bacteria are pathogenic and cause cross infection. Under ideal conditions (36–40°C, pH 5–9), some bacteria populations may double every 20–30 min. It means that one single bacteria cell can increase to almost 1,000,000 cells in just 7 h.The growth rate of microbes can be surprisingly rapid, depending on:

Physical factors (temperature, pH, osmotic pressure, hydrostatic pressure and radiation);
Chemical factors (oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, etc.).

The microorganism’s growth on surfaces causes a range of undesirable effects. These effects include the generation of unpleasant odour, reduction in some mechanical property of materials, stains and an increased likelihood of user contamination. Therefore, due to the growing public health awareness of the pathogenic effects, over the last few years, intensive research and development have been promoted in order to minimize or even eliminate microbe’s growth on surfaces. This microbial contamination is a great concern, mainly for the hospital environment, but also in sports clothing and the food industry. The infections acquired in this environments may be caused by several species, such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii.In order to impart an antimicrobial ability to textiles, different approaches have been studied, which can be mainly divided into the inclusion of antimicrobial compounds in the material that can leach from the matrix, the grafting of certain moieties onto the surface or the physical modification of the material surfaces.

Requirements

Durability to washing and dry cleaning;
Selectiveactivityto undesirable microorganisms;
Compliance with the mandatory legislation;
Compatibility with the chemical processes;
Easy method of application;
No deterioration of fabric quality.

The mechanisms

The mechanisms by which antimicrobial finishes control microbial growth are extremely varied, ranging from:

preventing cell reproduction;
blocking of enzymes;
reaction with the cell membrane to the destruction of the cell walls;
poisoning the cell from within.

Antimicrobial treatments market

In 2000, it was estimated that the production of antimicrobial textiles reached about 30,000 tonnes in Western Europe and 100,000 tonnes worldwide. Between 2001 and 2005, in Western Europe, an annual production of antimicrobial textiles increased by 15% was reported. Between 2013 and 2018 the global market for antimicrobial agents has increased yearly by approximately 12%. So, infection control is of great importance and requires a high level of hygiene. In particular, due to their large surface area and ability to retain moisture, textiles are known as being conducive to microorganisms’ growth, such as bacteria and fungi, which can be found almost everywhere and are able to quickly multiply, depending on the moisture, nutrients and temperature levels. Some bacteria populations may double every 20–30 min under ideal conditions (36–40°C, pH 5–9), meaning that one single bacteria cell can increase to about 1,000,000 cells in just 7 h. The microorganism’s growth on textiles causes a range of undesirable effects, not only on the textile itself but also on the user.These effects include:

the generation of unpleasant odour,
reduction in mechanical strength,
stains and discolouration
an increased likelihood of user contamination.

Therefore, due to the growing public health awareness of the pathogenic effects, over the last few years, intensive research and development have been promoted in order to minimize or even eliminate microbe’s growth on textiles.

Argochem solution

This microbial contamination is a great concern, mainly for textiles used in hospitals as medical devices or for health and hygienic care, but also in sports clothing, water purification systems, animal feed, and the food industry. With the aim of developing antimicrobial properties to textile fabrics, CeramiCoat No-bugs, a Zinc-based sol-gel finishing, has been developed by Argochem.