Cotton fabrics with UV blocking properties through metal salts deposition

Exposure to sunlight is important for human health as this increases the resistance to diverse pathogens, but the higher doses cause skin problems and diseases. Hence, wearing of sunlight protective fabrics displays a good solution for people working in open atmosphere. The current study offered quite simple and technically feasible ways to prepare good UV protection fabrics based on cotton. Metal salts including Zn, Cu and Ti were immobilized into cotton and oxidized cotton fabrics by using pad-dry-cure technique. Metal contents on fabrics were determined by AAS; the highest metal content was recorded for Cu-fabric and it was 360.6 mmol/kg after treatment of oxidized cotton with 0.5M of copper nitrate. Ti contents on fabrics were ranged between 168.0 and 200.8 mmol/kg and it showed the lowest release as only 38.1-46.4% leached out fabrics after five laundry washings. Metal containing deposits were specified by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. UV-transmission radiation over treated fabrics was measured and ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) was calculated. UPF was enhanced after treatment with Cu and Ti salts to be 11.6 and 14, respectively. After five washings, the amount of metal (Cu or Ti) retained indicates acceptable laundering durability. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.