Photocatalytic finishing of silk and viscose fabrics

Abstract

Photocatalysts are one of the recent functional additives used extensively in recent years due to their unique properties. This research attempts to finished silk and viscose fabrics with titania NPs for multifunctional finishing such as self-clean, anti-ultraviolet, and antibacterial. Citric acid was used as a cross-linking agent to increase the adsorption of NPs, using pad-cure. The K/S and ΔE were recorded to measure the efficiency of the self-cleaning of finished fabrics. The results showed that an appropriate discoloration was attained for the finished fabrics after UV irradiation. The finished fabrics acquired antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus as well as excellent ultraviolet radiation protection. FTIR was used to characterize the titania NPs finished surfaces and the interaction between citric acid and NPs on the fabric surfaces was confirmed. The durability of the finishing to washing cycles as well as the decomposition of different types of stains was studied.