Improvement of mechanical and functional properties of cotton fabric treated with nanoparticles

Abstract

This study reports the detailed mechanical and functional properties of cotton fabric with the deposition of Silver, Zinc oxide, and Titanium dioxide nanoparticles on fabric surfaces. The silver nanoparticle is synthesized by the in-situ and sol-gel method. The other two nanoparticles are synthesized by the sol-gel method only based on the improved properties achieved by the nanosilver deposition. The synthesized nanoparticle is characterized by SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) and XRD (X-Ray Diffraction Spectroscopy) analyses to confirm the nano formation and determine the crystalline size and shape. The silver nanoparticle is first immobilized in cotton fabric via in-situ synthesis process, where the fabric acts as the deposition medium. For the in-situ method, the fabric is pre-modified by caustic soda and dopamine hydrochloride to assist the fixation of nanoparticles. The elementary analysis of nano-treated fabric is done by EDS to study the mass composition. The chemical interaction of cotton fiber with nanoparticles is characterized by FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectrum. The antimicrobial activity of nano deposited fabric is investigated by quantitative analysis against both Gram-positive (S. aureus) and Gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria. Results show a significant antimicrobial activity with good wash durability for in-situ nano-Ag deposition for both methods. A noticeable Ultra Violet (UV) protection and wrinkle resistance are also found for nano-Ag immobilized fabric. The dyeing performances such as dye exhaustion, color strength, and fastness properties are also found excellent. However, for the in-situ method, the nano-Ag deposited fabric loses its mechanical properties because of the pretreatment with NaOH. Another in-situ method is the mussel-inspired deposition of Ag nanoparticles on cotton fabric pre-modified by dopamine hydrochloride. The findings demonstrate that nano-Ag deposition by this process has outstanding antibacterial properties, reducing 100% S.aureus and E.coli bacteria after 24 hours. The UV protection and wrinkle resistance are found well. The dyeing performance of the treated fabric, dyed by reactive dyestuffs, is also found excellent. However, small reduction in the mechanical properties of the cotton fabric is found. For improving the mechanical properties of the nano-Ag immobilized fabric, the synthesis of nanoparticles is done by salt (AgNO3) reduction in the sol-gel method on an ice-cool bath. Then these particles are applied to cotton fabric through mechanical thermo-fixation techniques. The formation of nano-sol is primarily examined by UV spectroscopy, and the zeta-size analyzer determines the size of nano-Ag. Dyeing behavior, mechanical properties, and antimicrobial activity are measured as performance evaluations of the treated fabric. It exhibits a notable improvement of dye exhaustion, color strength, and colorfastness property. Most importantly, appreciable improvement in mechanical as well as functional properties is obtained by this technique. For the synthesis of the other two nanoparticles, ZnO and TiO2, the sol-gel method is used since it improves the mechanical properties of the nano-Ag treated fabric. For this purpose, the fabric is firstly treated by synthesized nanoparticle with three different recipes. The first one is prepared by using only nanoparticles, the second one is nanoparticles with an acrylic binder, and finally, nanoparticles with polyethylene wax emulsifier and acrylic binder is used for the third recipe along with nanoparticles. Surface morphology analysis of the nano-coated fabric shows sufficient deposition of nanoparticles due to the use of binder. For analysis of functional properties, antimicrobial activity, UV protection property, and crease resistance are measured. Additionally, all essential mechanical properties are evaluated. The results show that the treatment with the first and second recipes causes the improvement of functional properties but degrades the mechanical properties for both ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles. On the other hand, nano treatment with the third recipe prepared by adding wax-emulsifier notably improves both the mechanical and functional properties. In overall comparison, the results show that silver nano-treated fabric has the highest antimicrobial activity and dyeing performance, whereas TiO2 nano-treated fabric has the best UV protection properties and crease resistance properties. Among the mechanical properties, ZnO nano-treated fabric with binder and wax-emulsifier shows the highest tensile strength and tearing strength and the lowest frictional co-efficient.