In situ microwave heating fabrication of copper nanoparticles inside cotton fiber using pressurization in immiscible liquids with raw material solutions

We developed a method for in situ fabrication of copper nanoparticles inside cotton fibers. Copper nanoparticles can be fabricated mainly in the central part of the fiber by absorbing a raw material solution and by applying microwave heating in a state where the raw material solution is pressed with immiscible liquids. Surface SEM images and cross-sectional EDS mapping for the fabricated fibers clarified that copper nanoparticles fabricated on the cotton surface were suppressed considerably more by the hydrophobic raw material solution than by the hydrophilic raw material solution. These cotton fibers containing copper nanoparticles were found to have antiviral properties against the influenza A virus.