Potential Application of Nanoparticles as Antipathogens - Advanced Materials for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Safety - page 337

human health, using molecular tools and molecular knowledge of the
human body. Today there is the utmost need for fabricating nanodevices
for early detection and location of cancer at a molecular level, delivering
anticancer drugs to the specii c site and simultaneously determining their
ei cacy in reducing cancer load [38-40].
Nanotechnology will ring in the era of dental nanorobots, which i nd
application in treating hypersensitive teeth; and also in the identii cation
and destruction of pathogenic bacteria residing in plaque, nanocomposites
with nanoi llers for enhanced durability and aesthetics, and impressions
material with nanoi llers for precise tissue detail.

12.2.5 Nanoparticles Applicable in the Area of Textile Fibers

Recently, an awareness of general sanitation, contact disease transmis-
sion, and personal protection has led to the development of antimi-
crobial textiles. In view of the textile industry's innovative history, it is
no wonder that nanotechnology has found its way into this sector so
quickly. Nanotechnology is forecasted as the second industrial evolution
of the world. Its novel properties and low material consumption amount
have attracted global interest across disciplines and industries. With the
increase in health awareness, many people have focused their attention
on educating and protecting themselves against harmful pathogens. It
soon became more important for antimicrobial-i nished textiles to pro-
tect the wearer from bacteria than it was to simply protect the garment
from i ber degradation [41]. It is evident that the ZnO nanoparticles-
treated fabrics showed higher antibacterial activity when compared with
ZnO bulk-treated fabrics, whereas the untreated fabrics showed no anti-
bacterial activity. In general, the antibacterial activity was higher against
S. aureus than E. coli in both ZnO nanoparticles- and bulk-treated fab-
rics. It has already been proven that both nanosized and micron-sized
ZnO suspensions are active in inhibiting bacterial growth; the nanosized
ZnO suspension clearly has a much higher activity than the micron-sized
ZnO suspension [42].
h e application of silver NPs in the antibacterial i nishing of textiles
is favorable due to the fact that silver atoms on the surface of the NPs
are exposed to fabric [1]. h erefore, due to NPs, considerable surround-
ing medium provides signii cant bactericidal ei ciency. Recent studies
have indicated that pretreatment of textiles by low-pressure plasmas can
improve loading of NPs from colloids [43]. h e laundering durability was
studied by using silver colloids of higher concentrations.