Novel antibacterial and sensorial comfort-enhanced OQAS/PBHSO/KH-550 viscose nonwovens for disposable absorbent hygiene products

Disposable absorbent hygiene products (DAHPs) play an important role in the prevention and control of bacterial infections. However, conventional DAHPs are limited in their applications due to their susceptibility to bacterial contamination and insufficient sensorial comfort at the skin-contact interface. Therefore, it is important to develop hygiene textiles integrating antibacterial activity with improved sensorial comfort. In this study, pure viscose nonwoven (P-VN) was employed as the substrate, organosilicon quaternary ammonium salt (OQAS) was selected as the antibacterial agent, polyether block hydrophilic silicone oil (PBHSO) was used as the sensorial comfort additive, and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH-550) was chosen as the crosslinking agent. OQAS/PBHSO/KH-550 viscose nonwovens (OQAS/PBHSO/KH-550-VNs) with excellent antibacterial activity and improved sensorial comfort properties were prepared through a post-finishing process. The results indicated that, compared with other OQAS/PBHSO/KH-550-VNs, 50 wt% OQAS/30 wt% PBHSO/20 wt% KH-550 viscose nonwoven (50O/30P/20K-VN) exhibited high hydrophilicity, excellent mechanical properties, favorable visual and tactile properties, good air and moisture permeability, and excellent antibacterial activity. Based on these results, an antibacterial and sensorial comfort-enhanced sanitary napkin was further designed using 50O/30P/20K-VN with optimal comprehensive performance as the top sheet, wood pulp and air-laid paper as the acquisition distribution layer, superabsorbent polymer as the absorbent core, and polyethylene as the back sheet. The results showed that the sanitary napkin fabricated with 50O/30P/20K-VN as the top sheet, denoted as 50O/30P/20K-SN, exhibited enhanced antibacterial activity and favorable sensorial comfort performance compared with commercially available sanitary napkins. This type of functionalized hygiene textile shows potential for applications in the field of healthcare textiles, providing a feasible strategy for the development of antibacterial and comfort-oriented disposable hygiene products, although further biosafety and environmental evaluations are still required before practical application.