Selfcleaning and antibacterial activities of textiles using nanocomposite oil palm boiler ash (OPBA), TiO2 and chitosan as coating

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the self-cleaning and antibacterial performance of fabrics coated with oil palm boiler ash (OPBA) nanocomposite, TiO2 and chitosan. The methods used to synthesize OPBA nanoparticles are ball mill and coprecipitation methods. Meanwhile, the sol-gel method was used to prepare TiO2 and nanocomposites. Fabric is coated through the dip-coating method. Nanocomposites as coatings showed significant results. It can be seen from the results of the fibre morphology before coating, which shows the typical parallel grooves possessed by cotton fabric fibres. Meanwhile, the surface of the coated fabric looks rougher and shows the presence of nanocomposites. The self-cleaning and antibacterial performance of the fabric that has been coated with nanocomposites shows promising results. Coated fabrics exhibit antibacterial performance. The self-cleaning activity on the fabric stained with coffee stains showed that the coated fabric was effective in its self-cleaning activity.