Abstract:

In order to study the antimicrobial properties of zinc alginate fibers, this paper used different amounts of zinc sulphate to treat calcium alginate fibers and prepared calcium zinc alginate fibers containing different concentrations of zinc ions through ion exchange. The antimicrobial properties of the zinc alginate fibers were tested using three methods. Results showed that because of the release of zinc ions from the fiber, there were clear zones of inhibition and the zinc alginate fibers were able to block the spreading of bacteria. Quantitative antimicrobial test results showed that the antimicrobial performance was stronger when the zinc ion content in the fiber was higher. Zinc alginate fibers with zinc ion contents of 164.4, 124.6 and 84.9 mg/g showed killing rates of 99.77%, 28.18% and 7.69% respectively against Bacillus subtilisvar. The killing rates against five types of common bacteria for the pure zinc alginate fiber were all above 98%.