A Sustainable Approach in the Development of Nano-silver Deposited Conductive Cellulosic Fabric: A Comparison of Various Bio-based Reductants

The textile materials produced with nanoparticles’ mediation give them diverse functional features including antibacterial activity, optical and structural features, tensile properties, self-cleaning, electrical conductivity and so on. Accordingly, conductive textiles may promise widespread applications in electronics, sensing, diagnostics, data transfer and so on. Herein, we compared the effectiveness of three different bio-based reductants of black tea extract, chitosan and starch for the in situ synthesis and impregnation of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) on the cellulose fabric to get effective conducting textiles. The results demonstrated that the z-average of the prepared silver-based particles was found in the nanometer range and they were well stable in the aqueous media. The surface chemical analysis exhibited that the SNPs were successfully impregnated on the finished cellulose fabric and affected its surface roughness and crystalline properties. The AC conductivity scan of the finished fabrics expressed that they become conductive of electricity, however, the highest effect was seen when black tea extract as a reductant during the application of SNPs in the fabric. The SNPs-treated samples expressed slightly decreased air permeability and tensile strength as compared to the untreated sample. After silver nano-finishing, the cellulosic samples turned from whitish to yellow to dark brown. They exhibited good broad-spectrum qualitative and quantitative antibacterial activities.