Preparation of silver-plated wool fabric with antibacterial and anti-mould properties

• Tris (2-carboxyethyl) phosphine (TCEP) was used as a reducing agent to produce thiol-reactive groups on the wool surface.
• The electroless plating process does not need the addition of noble metal catalyst.
• The existence of chemical bonding between thiol groups and silver ions could significantly enhance the adhesion of metal layer and wool fabric.
• The silver plated wool fabric shows superior antibacterial and anti-mould properties.
• This method can also be applied to produce metallization of other keratin fabrics for medical industry.

Wool fabric with multifunctional properties was prepared by a novel metallization method. In this study, wool fabric was firstly treated with tris (2-carboxyethyl) phosphine (TCEP) as a reducing agent to produce thiol-reactive groups on the wool surface. Then, these groups could react with silver ions in the following electroless plating. The results show that this metalized fabric has anti-bacterial activity above 99.9% and anti-mould activity reaches level of 0. This method can also be applied to produce metallization of other keratin fabrics for medical industry.