How does Silvadur antimicrobial technology work?
Silvadur antimicrobial is a patented, polymer-containing silver-technology that delivers silver ions using and intelligent control mechanism. When organisms land on, or try to form on, the surface of a fabric treated with Silvadur antimicrobial, silver ions are released resulting in microbial death. As the initial silver is consumed by this interaction, Silvadur technology releases more silver ions from the complex and the process continues. Silver ions are lethal to microbes that cause odor and material degradation. This delivery system is safe…in fact, it’s the same mode of action responsible for the antimicrobial properties found in silver spoons.
Silvadur antimicrobial outperforms alternative treatment systems
Silvadur vs Nano
Silvadur antimicrobial is a homogenous mixture containing fully soluble silver ions and fully soluble polymer in a mixture of water and/or ethanol. The silver component is not present as detectable individual metal particles of any size, but rather as dissolved chemical ions. What does this mean? A simple way to think of it would be to imagine an aqueous solution containing sodium and chloride ions (this could be easily prepared by dissolving table salt in water). No solid particles of table salt remain in this situation, as no solid particles of silver are present when using Silvadur antimicrobial.
A nano antimicrobial maintains and utilizes silver metals…or, you may think of it as the table salt not dissolving in water.
Silvadur vs Silver chlorides & Particle based delivery systems
Traditional silver-based antimicrobial systems rely on the delivery and presence of silver particles on the fabric surface and depend on either silver leaching to control bacteria, or insoluble silver salts to release the silver. However, due to the particle size, many of these systems cause fabric discoloration in a non-uniform antimicrobial finish, meaning a higher effective cost-to-treat. All products that rely on this approach use solid materials, this often means limited applicability across the textile supply chain due to formulation difficulty.
Silvadur vs Polymeric quat systems
You may also observe a Silvadur antimicrobial during the application process. Products treated with Silvadur antimicrobial require less heat, less time, and no extra binders. Polymeric quat systems are difficult to control and required careful dilution, formulation and processing conditions. And, with the structure of the polymeric quat systems, fabrics become water repellent. This makes it difficult for manufacturers meeting the needs of customers requiring moisture management capabilities. More chemicals - and more expense - are needed to control hydrophobicity inherent in polymer quat systems.
The properties of Silvadur antimicrobial technology
1. Passed a number of international certification tests (EPA, BPD, OEKO-TEX, Blue sign, JIS, etc.)
2. Special formula reduces the risk of discoloration.
3. After 50 times washing, the fabric still can keep 99.9% antimicrobial ability.
4. It improves on earlier technologies by using charged silver ions as opposed to silver particles.
5. Silver ions evenly distribute over a garment. This means the silver is used more efficiently.
