Abstract:
This research was aimed at preparing polypropylene/benzalkonium chloride-montmorillonite nanocomposite fiber and studying the fiber properties including mechanical properties and antimicrobial activity. Benzalkonium chloride-montmorillonite (BMMT) powders containing 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 และ 3.0 mmol/g benzalkonium chloride were prepared. Then, polypropylene nanocomposites with BMMT contents of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 wt% were achieved by melt mixing using twin screw extruder. The composite compounds were spun into monofilament fiber using melt spinning process with fixed draw ratio of 5. The modified montmorillonite powders were characterized for functional groups and morphology by XRD, FT-IR and SEM techniques. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of benzalkonium chloride inside clay gallery. As a result of its presence, the treated montmorillonite existed in the intercalated structure as confirmed by XRD diffractrogram. For the polypropylene/BMMT nanocomposite, the presence of BMMT particles was well dispersed according weight loss determination and they were able to raise the thermal stability of the nanocomposite. From the results of fiber spinning, the antibacterial activity of the nanocomposite fiber containing 8 wt% BMMT (≥1.5 mmole benzalkonium chloride/g montmorillonite) was recorded at 99% reduction.This property was derived from the effect of benzalkonium chloride as well-known antimicrobial agent.