August 14, 2017
An innovative research team has developed a cotton fiber that kills bacteria. The fiber can be used to make bandages, bedding, upholstery, shoe liners and other products.
This discovery holds an important public health potential for worldwide application.
Sunghyan Nam and her colleagues at the USDA’s Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans have found that including nanoparticles of silver within cotton fabric is an inexpensive, environmentally safe way to control bacteria.
Tests performed with the fabric showed that it continued to kill bacteria after 50 washings.
The USDA team plans to create anti-microbial floor wipes with the material in the future.
For more information about the project, visit https://agresearchmag.ars.usda.gov/2017/jun/fibers/.