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.