A Greener Facile Approach to Develop Durable Multifunctional Cellulosic Pigment Prints Using β-CD, ZnO-NPs and Several Bioactive Guest Molecules

Abstract

In the present work, β-CD, ZnO-NPs, and several eco-friendly bioactive guests, namely, cinnamon oil, lemon oil, lavender oil, and vanillin along with environmentally benign pigment paste constituents were applied to cotton, viscose, cotton/viscose, and cotton/linen cellulosic substrates to develop durable multi-functional pigment prints in a single step using the pad-dry-thermofixation method. The developed one-step pigment coloration and multi-functionalization method resulted in a remarkable improvement in antibacterial efficacy, UV-protection ability, aroma property along with a noticeable increase in depth of the obtained pigment prints, making them very useful for a wide range of potential applications. The extent of enhancement in the above-mentioned functional and coloration properties is governed by type of cellulosic substrate, presence of β-CD/ZnO-NPs, type of bioactive agent as well as kind of pigment colorant. Among the used bioactive agents, lavender oil proved to be the best for attaining multi-functional and pigment coloration properties, keeping other parameters constant. The obtained results also demonstrated that increasing washing cycles up to 15 washes resulted in a slight decrease in the imparted functional and coloration properties, regardless of the used cellulosic substrate. Both SEM images and EDX spectra confirmed the surface modification and ZnO-NPs immobilization onto the selected fabric surfaces. Mode of interactions among the different printing paste constituents and the cellulosic substrates were also suggested.