Application of anisotropic silver nanoparticles: multifunctionalization of wool fabric

Anisotropic silver nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully employed to color the wool fabrics in this study. The modified wool fabrics exhibited brilliant colors due to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) properties of silver NPs. The colors of wool fabrics altered with the morphologies of silver NPs. These modified wool fabrics were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that anisotropic silver NPs were effectively assembled on the surface of wool fibers when the solution pH and temperature was about 4 and 40°C, respectively. This assembling of silver NPs on the wool fibers was realized by the electrostatic interaction between wool fibers and silver NPs. This technique was also applied to gold NPs. The fabrics treated with anisotropic silver NPs showed high antibacterial activity against the bacteria of Escherichia coli. This study opens a new approach to color and functionalize conventional textile materials.