Self-cleaning wool: effect of noble metals and silica on visible-light-induced functionalities of nano TiO2 colloid

This study intends to enhance the functionality of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles applied to wool fabrics under visible light. Herein, TiO 2 , TiO 2 /SiO 2 , TiO 2 /Metal, and TiO 2 /Metal/SiO 2 nanocomposite sols were synthesized and applied to wool fabrics through a low-temperature sol-ge...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Textile Institute 2015-12, Vol.106 (12), p.1348-1361
Main Authors: Pakdel, Esfandiar, Daoud, Walid. A., Afrin, Tarannum, Sun, Lu, Wang, Xungai
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antimicrobial agents
antimicrobial property
Light
Metals
Nanocomposites
noble metal
self-cleaning
titanium dioxide
visible light
Wool fabrics
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Summary:This study intends to enhance the functionality of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles applied to wool fabrics under visible light. Herein, TiO 2 , TiO 2 /SiO 2 , TiO 2 /Metal, and TiO 2 /Metal/SiO 2 nanocomposite sols were synthesized and applied to wool fabrics through a low-temperature sol-gel method. The impacts of three types of noble metals, namely gold (Au), platinum (Pt), and silver (Ag), on the photoefficiency of TiO 2 and TiO 2 /SiO 2 under visible light were studied. Different molar ratios of Metal toTiO 2 (0.01, 0.1, 0.5, and 1%) were employed in synthesizing the sols. Photocatalytic efficiency of fabrics was analyzed through monitoring the removal of red wine stain and degradation of methylene blue under simulated sunlight and visible light, respectively. Also, the antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacterium and the mechanical properties of fabrics were investigated. Through applying binary and ternary nanocomposite sols to fabrics, an enhanced visible-light-induced self-cleaning property was imparted to wool fabrics. It was concluded that the presence of silica and optimized amount of noble metals had a synergistic impact on boosting the photocatalytic and antimicrobial activities of coated samples. The fabrics were further characterized using attenuated total reflectance, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, and scanning electron microscopy images.
ISSN:0040-5000
1754-2340
DOI:10.1080/00405000.2014.995461