Successive Chemical Modification of Poly(acrylonitrile) Fibers with Glycidyl Methacrylate and Poly(p-phenylenediamine)/Ag Particles for an Efficient Antibacterial Activity

One of the most industrially-prominent fibers, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), was chemically modified with the two specific steps to gain new functional groups that enable the surface chemically attractive. First, the chemically-susceptible epoxy groups were introduced to the PAN through graft copolymerization of glycidyl methacrylate using benzoyl peroxide (Bz 2 O 2 ) as an initiator. Secondly, the surface of GMA grafted-PAN fibers (PAN-g-GMA) was decorated by the poly( p -phenylenediamine) (PFDA) and Ag nanoparticles through the in-situ oxidative polymerization of p -phenylenediamine ( p -FDA) using AgNO 3 . The changes in the PAN fiber’s weights were monitored by changing the experimental conditions such as Bz 2 O 2 and GMA concentrations, polymerization temperature-time, and AgNO 3 /p-FDA mol ratio. The usage of 5×10 −3 M of Bz 2 O 2 and 0.5 M of GMA at 85 °C for 1 h ensured over 95 % of GMA graft yields to the PAN-g-GMA fibers. Structural, thermal, and morphological changes that occurred in the PAN fiber were examined in detail using ATR-FTIR, XRD, TGA, Optical Microscope, and SEM techniques, respectively. A grey metallic shine was detected by optic microscopy on the composite surface after the PFDA/Ag nanoparticles deposition. Finally, the antibacterial activity performance of the Ag particles anchored-composite fiber was determined against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) by the zone inhibition test. The Ag particles decorated-composite showed high antibacterial activity, especially against E. coli (16.5 cm inhibition) compared to Ag-unloaded one. A suitable methodology was presented to develop a fiber composite that will potentially be used as an antibacterial textile in the various material preparation fields.