Photo-catalytic of nano ZnO/TiO2 as a UV-protection agent on gambir colored cotton fabric

Abstract

Cotton fabric is one of natural fibers that are often found and used as textile materials. The daily activities of people who are often exposed to sunlight make clothes worn shabby easily because the color has been degraded by UV light contained in sunlight. Therefore, development is needed to maintain the color of clothing so that it is not easily degraded especially if the clothes are stained using natural dyes, one of which is the natural coloring of gambir. Nano ZnO/TiO2 with its photo-catalytic properties can provide UV-protection properties on color of the fabric so that it is not easily degraded. Synthesis of ZnO/TiO2nanoparticles was carried out using sonicator at temperature of 30°C with variation time of 20, 30, 40 minutes. In this research, variation of percentage weight of ZnO on ZnO/TiO2 is 20:80; 21:79 and 22:78 and concentration of nano ZnO/TiO2 solution is 30, 60 and 90 ppm to determine the effect of color degradation resistance when nano ZnO/TiO2 was coated on a cotton fabric that has been colored by gambir natural dyes. Nano ZnO/TiO2 was dissolved with ethanol then applied to cotton fabric and soaking it at certain time then put in a dark box containing UV light (LED @ 11 watts, 6 pieces) for 24 hours. Characterization of nano ZnO/TiO2using XRD and SEM, evaluating color degradation of cotton fabric using color strength analysis method. The data that has been obtained is processed with Response Surface Method (RSM) to determine optimum operating conditions using Minitab 18 application. Results of this research indicate that nano ZnO/TiO2 has been successfully synthesized and become one of the opportunities to be used as additives to improve color resistance of fabric.