Functionalization of cotton fabric with PVP/ZnO nanoparticles for improved reactive dyeability and antibacterial activity

Poly-N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone functionalization was done for improved the dyeability of dichlorotriazine dyes on cotton fabric. The synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were padded on functionalized cotton fabrics to improve antibacterial activity. The modification effects were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM and EDX studies. The antibacterial activity was done against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacterium. The dye exhaustion and fastness properties were analyzed for dyeing with sodium chloride, sodium sulfate and trisodium citrate bio-salt as exhausting agents. The functionalized cotton fabric showed improved dye uptake and good fastness properties. Poly-N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone with ZnO nanoparticles padded fabrics showed very good antibacterial activity. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.