Functionalization of cotton fabric with nanosized TiO₂ coating for self-cleaning and antibacterial property enhancement

In this study, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) was used as coating compound to add self-cleaning and antibacterial functionality properties to the cotton fabric. TiO₂-consisting coating compounds were prepared at four different processing temperatures (20, 40, 60, and 80°C) in order to examine the influence of process temperature on average particle size. Among the prepared solutions, the one prepared at 80°C process temperature was selected for the dip coating application of the 100% cotton fabric, which formed a transparent nanosized TiO₂ film on the fibrous structure of fabric. Dip coating trials were done at five coating temperatures of 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100°C. TiO₂-coated and uncoated fabric samples were then tested to evaluate their self-cleaning and antibacterial activities. A self-cleaning activity test was conducted using uncoated and TiO₂-coated fabric samples which were stained with hot tea solution via dipping method. Stained fabric samples were illuminated under a solar simulator for the color changes to measure photocatalytic degradation of stain colors. Antibacterial performance of TiO₂-coated and uncoated fabric samples was determined against pure cultures of Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213.