Synthesis of nano copper/nylon composite using ascorbic acid and CTAB

In this paper, an in situ synthesis of copper nanoparticles on or within the polyamide chains of nylon fabric was introduced through a simple chemical reduction method by using ascorbic acid as reducing agent and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide as capping agent. Also, a coloring effect on nylon fabric was shown through synthesis of copper nanoparticles as indicated by reflectance spectrophotometer. The distribution of copper nanoparticles on the fabric surface was shown by scanning electron microscopy images within 85. nm. Further, Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray Diffraction confirmed effective assembling of copper nanoparticles on the surface of nylon fibers. The fabrics treated with copper nanoparticles showed higher tensile strength, lower bending length and reasonable antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.