High-efficiency antibacterial and anti-mildew properties under self-assembly: An environmentally friendly nanocomposite

Abstract Leather is easy to breed colonies or mildew during the storage process, destroy the fiber structure, and affect human health. The antibacterial treatment of leather is usually through adding antimicrobials during the re-tanning process. However, traditional leather antibacterial agent has benzene, sulfur and other harmful substances. In recent years, they have been banned in the process of making leather. In this study, poly(dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride-methacrylic acid)/silver deposited ZnO composite was prepared by in-situ method and used in leather re-tanning process. The self-assembly behavior occured between silver deposited ZnO and polymer with the flower-like morphology formed via the situ polymerization. After re-tanning process, Ag/ZnO and N+ in the composite provide leather with efficient antibacterial, anti-mildew and physical properties. Meanwhile, there were no harmful substances in the composite compared with traditional leather antibacterial agent, which was a kind of “friendly” antimicrobial material.