S. Anita and T. Ramachandran
Among the diverse fields of application of technical textiles, which are poised for tremendous growth in fastdeveloping economies like those of India and China, non-implantable healthcare and hygiene products are assuming significant importance because of specificity of their end uses. Protective textiles offer protection from hazardous chemicals, microbes, heat, extreme cold and radiation and have special application potential in today’s technologically advanced world. In addition to this, the advent of nanotechnology has opened innumerable new avenues giving rise to high-performance textiles and apparel. Today, the healthcare industry is increasingly concerned with the exposure and transference of various microorganisms that are commonly present in the atmosphere. Studies have been carried out in the present work to fine-tune the properties of zinc oxide nano-particles for special applications. In the current work, soluble starch (stabilizing agent), zinc oxide nitrate and sodium hydroxide (precursors) were used for the preparation of zinc oxide nanoparticles by wet chemical method. The zinc oxide nano-particles were microencapsulated and applied to single jersey cotton fabric. The antibacterial property of the coated fabric was determined quantitatively and qualitatively. Techniques such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and physical and chemical characterisation were employed to study the phase and morphology of the nanoparticles. The results indicate that the coated fabric have high antibacterial efficiency. The nanoparticles synthesized in this work have an average size of 50 nm and the physical and chemical properties of the treated fabric are markedly different from those of the untreated fabric. Insights into zinc oxide encapsulated coated fabric prove their efficacy against microbes and hence can be used for medical apparel.
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Journal of Textile Science & Engineering received 1008 citations as per Google Scholar report
