Development of an efficient strategy for coating TiO2 on polyester-cotton fabrics for bactericidal applications

In this work, the bactericidal properties of TiO2 modified polyester–cotton fabrics were studied. Fabrics were modified via dip-coating in TiO2 suspensions irradiated by simulated sunlight. TiO2 coated fabrics were characterized by SEM, FTIR and XPS analysis and tested as photocatalysts for the self-disinfection of E. coli. Tests were performed thrice for each modified fabric in order to determinate their stability in the reaction. Irradiated TiO2 modified fabrics were found to be stable under the studied reaction conditions. Such a stability was correlated to chemical bonding of TiO2 with surface (C=O)–OH functional groups from the fabrics whose formation was promoted by irradiation during dip-coating