Reuse of Textile Waste to Production of the Fibrous Antibacterial Membrane with Filtration Potential
Alena Opálková Šišková,
Pavel Pleva,
Jakub Hrůza,
Jaroslava Frajová,
Jana Sedlaříková,
Petra Peer,
Angela Kleinová,
Magda Janalíková
Affiliations
Alena Opálková Šišková
Institute of Materials and Machine Mechanics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská Cesta 9, 845 13 Bratislava, Slovakia
Pavel Pleva
Department of Environmental Protection Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Vavreckova 275, 760 01 Zlin, Czech Republic
Jakub Hrůza
Institute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation, Technical University of Liberec, Studentská 1402/2, 461 17 Liberec, Czech Republic
Jaroslava Frajová
Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Technical University of Liberec, Studentská 1402/2, 460 01 Liberec, Czech Republic
Jana Sedlaříková
Department of Fat, Surfactant and Cosmetics Technology, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Vavreckova 275, 760 01 Zlin, Czech Republic
Petra Peer
Department of Environmental Protection Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Vavreckova 275, 760 01 Zlin, Czech Republic
Angela Kleinová
Polymer Institute of Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská Cesta 9, 845 41 Bratislava, Slovakia
Magda Janalíková
Department of Environmental Protection Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Vavreckova 275, 760 01 Zlin, Czech Republic
Wasted synthetic fabrics are a type of textile waste source; the reuse of them brings environmental protection and turns waste into a valuable material. In this work, the used nylon (polyamide) stockings were transmuted into a fine fibrous membrane via an electrospinning process. In addition, the safety antibacterial agent, monoacylglycerol (MAG), was incorporated into a recycled fibrous membrane. The results revealed that the neat, recycled polyamide (rPA) fibers with a hydrophobic surface could be converted into hydrophilic fibers by blending various amounts of MAG with rPA solution prior to electrospinning. The filtration efficiency and air/water vapor permeability of the two types of produced membranes, neat rPA, and rPA/MAG, were tested. Their filtration efficiency (E100) was more than 92% and 96%, respectively. The membranes were classified according to Standard EN1822, and therefore, the membranes rPA and rPA/MAG were assigned to the classes E10 and E11, respectively. The air permeability was not affected by the addition of MAG, and water vapor permeability was slightly enhanced. Based on the obtained data, prepared rPA/MAG fibrous membranes can be evaluated as antifouling against both tested bacterial strains and antimicrobial against S. aureus.