A New Facile Strategy for Multifunctional Textiles Development through In Situ Deposition of SiO2/TiO2 Nanosols Hybrid

Herein, antibacterial activity and water repellent cotton fabrics with UV protection were carried out through in situ chemical deposition of SiO2 nanosols. Ammonium hydroxide was used as a gentle catalyst to initiate the polycondensation reaction inside the fabrics. During deposition of SiO2 nanosols onto cellulose of cotton, the process was integrated with TiO2 nanosols to evaluate the cooperative properties of the formed SiO2/TiO2 nanosols onto cotton fabrics. Furthermore, the water repellent property was induced to the loaded cotton fabrics by further polycondensation with octamethyltrisiloxane (OMTS). Results revealed that both SiO2 and TiO2 as well as mixtures therefrom were in situ deposited onto cotton fabrics, separately, in sizes ranging from 5-10 nm as indicated from TEM. Results from XRD and FTIR clearly proved, respectively, the crystallographic profile and chemical structure of nanosols loaded inside cotton fabrics. By comparing the obtained results, UV protection and water repellent combined with high antibacterial activity of cotton fabrics were successfully induced by a virtue of the in situ deposition of SiO2 nanosols into cotton fabrics. However, these properties were significantly improved with increasing the portion of TiO2 nanosols in mixture without breakdown in mechanical properties of cotton fabrics.