*4.2.1 Wash cycles*

To evaluate the durability of the adhesion of the additives to the tissue, durability tests were performed against washing. Each sample was subjected to 1, 5, and 20 wash cycles of 15 min each. Each cycle consisted of placing the impregnated fabrics in a 400-ml beaker in contact with a solution of sodium lauryl sulfate 2 g/l for 15 min. Then, the fabrics were rinsed, removed with tweezers, and placed in another beaker with distilled water; this procedure was performed twice, and, finally, each cloth was rinsed again with a water slug dragging all traces of soap (**Figure 5**). The new nomenclature [44] is SBAg (KBI) and S3BAg (K3BI).

#### **Figure 4.** *Photographs of the strains used as bioindicators.*

#### **Figure 5.**

*Photographs of the fabric with KBI after a first wash cycle (left), 5 wash cycles (center), and 20 wash cycles (right).*

**9**

**Figure 6.**

*Antimicrobial Fabrics Impregnated with Ag Particles Included in Silica Matrices*

The nomenclature is changed in this section that is subsequent to all changes

The antifungal activity of the fabrics treated with the modified silicas was estimated with the bioindicators: *Aspergillus* sp. and *C. globosum* (KU936228) according to the standard modified method DIN 53931390. The culture medium used consists of 1 g of KH2PO4, 1 g of KNO3, 0.5 g of MgSO4.7H2O, 0.5 g of KCl, 0.2 g of glucose, 0.2 g of sucrose, and 15 g of agar per 1 l of distilled H2O. It is a less nutritious culture medium, allowing more delicate colony growth and an easier evaluation of the antifungal activity of the fabric. About 100 μl of the spore suspension (inoculum) previously obtained was inoculated, spread with the Drigalski spatula to obtain a homogeneous lawn of the strain, and incubated in an oven at 28°C for 24 h. Subsequently, the impregnated fabrics (4 cm × 4 cm) were sterilized by UV radiation and placed in the center of the previously grown plate working in

Then, they were incubated in an oven 28°C for 14 days. After that time, the antifungal activity was determined in terms of mycelial growth on the surface of the cotton fibers and the intensity of the sporulation. To ensure statistical validity,

Analyzing the data after 20 wash cycles, some of the antifungal activities is lost. Both SBAg and S3BAg samples have no noticeable differences in growth inhibition, achieving only a dispersed growth of between 5 and 10% (eye

*Antifungal test of the fabrics impregnated with the pad-dry-cure method against* C. globosum*.*

suffered by the selected fabric. This makes the identification of pure silicabased additives based on those incorporated into the fabric simpler as explained

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91631*

**4.3 Evaluation of the antifungal activity of fabrics**

previously.

the laminar flow.

*4.3.1 Results*

the test was performed in triplicate.

*Antimicrobial Fabrics Impregnated with Ag Particles Included in Silica Matrices DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91631*

The nomenclature is changed in this section that is subsequent to all changes suffered by the selected fabric. This makes the identification of pure silicabased additives based on those incorporated into the fabric simpler as explained previously.
