Evaluation of multifunctional properties of polyester/cotton blend treated with unmodified and modified nano-TiO 2 particles.

TiO2nanoparticles have been synthesised using sol–gel technique by titanium tetraisopropoxide (C12H28O4Ti,) as a precursor. The particle has been modified using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane as a surface modifier. The unmodified and modified particles were characterise for size and distribution using a particle size analyser, which works on dynamic light scattering principle. The particles have been applied on polyester/cotton woven fabric for various concentrations of nanoparticles. The treated fabric has been characterised for protective properties such as antimicrobial activity (againstStaphylococcus aureus,Klebsiella pneumoniaandEscherichia coli) and ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) factors and for easy care properties such as soil release and self-cleaning behaviours. The functionality of the treated fabric was studied and also tested for durability for repeated wash cycles. The particle size of unmodified and modified TiO2have been found to be 25 and 18 nm respectively. The treated samples with modified TiO2have shown higher antimicrobial activity. Self-cleaning effect of the modified TiO2treated fabric has been found to be notably higher than the unmodified TiO2treated fabric. Soil release effect, which was studied subjectively, also showed improved performance for those fabrics treated with modified nano-TiO2. The UPF results of the unmodified and modified nano-TiO2fabric did not have notable differences but were almost the same. Both unmodified and modified TiO2treated fabrics have shown the::deceasing treated in all the functional properties studied; however, the rate of decrease was low up to the tenth wash, and then, it became notable at the fifteenth and above wash cycles. The surface light reflection characteristics, through whiteness index of the unmodified TiO2treated fabrics, were also found to be at increasing trend with treatment concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]