LEVERAGING ANTIBACTERIAL EFFICACY OF SILVER LOADED CHITOSAN NANOPARTICLES ON LAYER-BY-LAYER SELF- ASSEMBLED COATED COTTON FABRIC R. R. Gadkari 1 , S. Wazed Ali 1* , M. Joshi 1 , S. Rajendran 2 , A. Das 1 , R. Alagirusamy 1 1 Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India. 2 School of Engineering, The University of Bolton, Bolton, BL3 5AB, United Kingdom. ABSTRACT The present study relates to forma self-assembled coating on cotton fabric using layer-by-layer (L-B-L) technique to impart antimicrobial property. Poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS) and synthesised silver loaded chitosan (CS-Ag) nanoparticles were used as anionic and cationic agents, respectively, for the L-B-L electrostatic assembly of polyelectrolytes. The alternate L B-L deposition of PSS and CS-Ag nanoparticles on fabric was done up to 15 bi-layers, which was confirmed by measuring the change in depth of colour of fabric after each single layer deposition. Scanning electron micrographs showed the successful deposition of CS-Ag nanoparticles as the topmost surface layer of coated fabric, which was further reaffirmed by X ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. Results of both qualitative and quantitative analysis showed enhancement in the antibacterial activity of fabric coated L-B-L with CS-Ag nanoparticles (using minimal loading of silver) with respect to that of fabric coated L-B-L with chitosan (CS) nanoparticles. This was further substantiated by sustained release of Ag+ from fabric coated L-B-L with CS-Ag nanoparticles, as observed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Besides, no adverse effect on the physical and mechanical properties of the fabric, such as air- permeability, tensile strength and bending (flexural) rigidity, was observed after L-B-L coating of nanoparticles. Keywords: chitosan; silver; layer-by-layer coating; nanoparticles; antibacterial *Corresponding author: E-mail: wazed@textile.iitd.ac.in; Tel: +91-011-2659 7952 brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by University of Bolton Institutional Repository (UBIR)