Precursor concentration effect on structure and morphology of ZnO for coatings on fabric substrates

Abstract

Abstract ZnO is a versatile functional material that has a diverse group of growth morphologies. By controlling the growth kinetics, it is possible to change the growth behavior of ZnO structures. Growth of ZnO structures can be achieved in a cheaper way at low temperature using chemical growth techniques such as aqueous chemical growth, nonaqueous solution growth, sol gel and spray deposition. Up to date, there are quite few reports in the literature presenting state of art approaches of use of ZnO material onto textile substrates for several applications as antibacterial, deodorizing and UV protection, and none regarding any systematic approach of direct growth and optimization with respect to the textile support. The successful exploitation of ZnO particles for use in various technological applications requires the development of techniques for controlling its photocatalytic activity. The present contribution presents a study of precursor concentration effect on structure and morphology of ZnO for coatings on fabric substrates. ZnO particles were obtained by direct growth onto the respective substrate by aqueous chemical growth using suitable precursors for each growth and then characterized regarding their appearance, size and structure using microscopic techniques and X-ray diffraction.