Preparation of antimicrobial textiles using a sonochemical method

There is a growing need for hygienic textiles for clothing, wound healing, and medical applications in hospitals and other places where bacteria present a hazard. The reason for this is because some bacterial strains have demonstrated an increasing resistance toward antibiotics. We describe here a patent for preparing antimicrobial fabrics, coated with metal oxide nanoparticles by means of a novel sonochemical method. These antibacterial fabrics are widely used for production of outdoor clothes, under-wear, bed-linen, bandages, etc. The deposition of metal oxides known to possess antimicrobial activity, namely ZnO, MgO and CuO, can significantly extend the applications of textile fabrics and prolong the period of their use. The present patent provides a method for ultrasonic impregnation of textiles with metal oxide nanoparticles thereby producing a textile - metal oxide composite containing homogeneously impregnated metal oxide nanoparticles. By means of the novel sonochemical method, a uniform deposition of metal oxide nanoparticles is achieved simply.