Antimicrobial fibers

Abstract

The invention provides an antimicrobial fiber which exhibits excellent antimicrobial properties even without the addition of antimicrobial agents and can remain antimicrobial even after repeated washing. The antimicrobial fiber comprises a fiber having on a surface thereof a polyacetal copolymer (X) containing oxyalkylene groups, the molar amount of oxyalkylene groups in the polyacetal copolymer (X) being 0.2 to 5 mol % relative to the total of the molar amount of oxymethylene groups and the molar amount of oxyalkylene groups.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to an antimicrobial fiber having a polyacetal copolymer on its surface. The invention also relates to a nonwoven fabric, a knitted fabric, a woven fabric, a felt and a web which each include the antimicrobial fiber. Further, the invention relates to a filter including the nonwoven fabric, and to a clothing article, a bedding article or an interior article including any one or more selected from the group consisting of the knitted fabrics, the woven fabrics, the felts and the webs.BACKGROUND ART[0002]Polyacetal is an engineering plastic with excellent mechanical properties, heat resistance, chemical resistance and electrical characteristics, and is widely used in fields such as electric appliances, automobiles, machinery and building materials. Further, polyacetal is easy to fabricate into articles and is used as fibers, nonwoven fabrics and filters (see, for example, Patent Literatures 1 to 3).[0003]With the social developmen...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015]As a result of extensive studies on the problems discussed above, the present inventor has found that a fiber which has on its surface a polyacetal copolymer containing a specific amount of oxyalkylene groups attains excellent antimicrobial properties and remains antimicrobial even after repeated washing, thus completing the present invention.

[0033]According to the present invention, an antimicrobial fiber can be provided which has excellent antimicrobial properties and can remain antimicrobial even after repeated washing. The antimicrobial fiber of the invention can be fabricated into a nonwoven fabric, a knitted fabric, a woven fabric, a felt and a web which exhibit excellent antimicrobial properties. Thus, the invention can provide a filter, a clothing article, a bedding article and an interior article which each include any of the above fabricated products and have excellent antimicrobial properties.

Problems solved by technology

Because of their nature as dielectric materials or electrically insulating materials, however, plastics are prone to attract airborne dusts and microbes and tend to allow microbes to grow on their surfaces if the temperature and humidity conditions are appropriate.

The growth of microbes deteriorates the appearance and causes a bad odor, and microbes contaminate objects that have touched them.

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