UV protection and self-cleaning finish for cotton fabric using metal oxide nanoparticles

Ultra-violet protection and self-cleaning action of nano zinc oxide (ZnO) and titanium di-oxide (TiO2) with acrylic binder has been assessed on the cotton fabric using pad-dry-cure method. Different precursors, such as zinc acetate and titanium tetrachloride have been used to synthesize nanoparticles. Zinc acetate is synthesized into nanoparticle by wet chemical technique and titanium tetrachloride is synthesized into nanoparticle by sol-gel technique. The synthesized nanoparticles are then characterized by using particle size analyzer, X-ray diffractometery, fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The nano ZnO and TiO2 finished cotton fabrics are tested for ultraviolet protection factor, self-cleaning action and physical properties. The wash fastness of zinc oxide and titanium di-oxide nano finished cotton fabrics for 5, 10, 15 and 20 washes is assessed. The self-cleaning activity is assessed for 12, 24 and 48 h duration by exposing 6% of coffee stain on the specimen fabrics to sunlight. The ZnO nanoparticle is found to be 9 nm using zinc acetate as precursor and TiO2 nanoparticle is found to be 35 nm by titanium tetra chloride as precursor. In the case of ultraviolet protection function it is found that the fabrics treated with 35 nm nanoparticles exhibit better ultraviolet protection factor values than the fabrics treated with 9 nm nanoparticles. The smaller nanoparticles (9 nm) show better results with regard to self-cleaning. The washing durability of the imparted function is found to be in between 28 washes and 48 washes for ultraviolet protection.