Variations of antibacterial activity and silver characteristic of silver‐containing activated carbon fibers undergoing cyclic antibacterial tests

Seven cycles of antibacterial tests were performed on silver‐containing activated carbon fibers derived from liquefied wood (WACF/Ag) to investigate the variations of their antibacterial activity and silver characteristics. The results showed that all the WACF/Ag had the excellent antibacterial durability. Less silver ions were released from WACF/Ag prepared at the soaking concentration of 0.2 mol/L. Both silver and silver ion content followed a decreasing trend with an increase in cycle number of antibacterial tests, and the significant drop occurred in the first cycle. The silver on the surface and in mesopores was almost removed in the first cycle of antibacterial tests, while that in micropores was released slowly with increasing cycle number of antibacterial tests. The schematic illustrations for WACF/Ag revealed that the number of silver nanoparticles in micropores had the determined effect on the antibacterial durability. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:1404–1411, 2017. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers