COMPARISON OF QUANTITATIVE METHODS FOR DETERMINING THE ANTIBACTERIAL EFFECTIVENESS OF NON-WOVEN TEXTILES

This contribution is aimed at comparing two quantitative methods for determining the antibacterial effectiveness of non-woven textiles and assessment of permanence of the antimicrobial finish of the nonwoven textile materials prepared from polypropylene fibers. Experience and results obtained by the quantitative test methods specified in AATCC TM 100 and STN EN ISO 20743 intended to evaluate the effectiveness of the antibacterial finish are published in the contribution. Emphasis is placed on comparability of the selected test methods, on the test microorganism used in the study as well as on evaluation of the results of antibacterial effectiveness. The non-woven fabrics, that were the subject of the evaluation, were pre-treated by surface activation with low-temperature plasma at atmospheric pressure and subsequently finished using antimicrobial (AMB) nanosol solution with a concentration of 15 ppm Ag+, 30 ppm Ag+, 60 ppm Ag+ and 120 ppm Ag+. Antibacterial effectiveness before washing and after 5 washing cycles is demonstrated on the specific examples obtained from practice.