Optimisation of AgNP Synthesis in the Production and Modification of Antibacterial Cellulose Fibres

The main aim of the presented research is to determine the optimal conditions for the production of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO), which will potentially allow to obtain small nanoparticles with uniform diameter distribution. In this paper, NMMO is used in the fibre production process, both as a direct cellulose solvent and as an Ag+ reducing system. From an industrial point of view, this method is very promising because it allows to reduce the amount of used chemicals. The UV/Vis, DLS and TEM analysis proved that the synthesis temperature and time could play a key role in nanoparticle growth control in NMMO. It was found that the optimal conditions for AgNPs synthesis are 100 °C and 0.33 h. The estimations of the antibacterial activity of the fibres were completed. The applied AgNPs synthesis conditions allow to obtain antibacterial fibres with a wide range of applications, mainly in medicine.