Sericin-TiO2 nanocomposite treated cotton fabrics for enhanced antibacterial and self-cleaning properties

Abstract

The valorization of industrial byproducts is rising as a new dawn and has become a creative area of research for the scientists. Sericin is being a good resource of starting materials since it can be recovered and recycled. The research aimed to modify cotton fabric by sericin-TiO2 nanocomposite (STNc) for enhancement its antibacterial and self-cleaning properties. STNc were prepared using tetraisopropylorthotitanate (TIOT) and sericin with proportions 2:1, 2:2 and 1:2. The obtained STNc possesses anatase phase of TiO2 nanoparticles having an average 22.9 nm particle sizes. The STNc coated cotton samples were prepared with three different weight fractions of STNc and citric acid (2:1:2, 2:2:1 and 1:2:2). The incorporation of STNc onto cotton fabric was examined by FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. The antibacterial activity of STNc coated cotton fabrics was investigated against drug resistant bacterium viz. Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas 4A and Escherichia coli. The STNc coated cotton fabric exhibited effective resistance against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The antibacterial properties of STNc coated cotton fabrics were depended with the fraction of STNc. The uncoated and STNc coated cotton fabrics were stained with coffee and then irradiated on sunlight for 0, 30, 60, 90 h and UV light for 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 h. A noticeable decrease in the coffee stain's appearance was observed after 90 h sunlight and 10 h UV light exposure for STNc coated cotton fabric. The reusability of photo exposed samples was evaluated by FTIR spectroscopy.