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A novel composite photocatalyst prepared from graphene and commercial TiO2 (P25 from Evonik) was synthesized, exhibiting enhanced photocatalytic activity for methylene blue degradation, when com-pared with pristine P25. Additionally, the new catalyst showed 20% more NO conversion under UV light than P25. The band gap of the catalyst, obtained from diffuse reflectance, was 2.95 eV indicating an extended light absorption up to 420 nm. The novel photocatalyst was further tested for inactivating microorganisms showing better results than the reference photocatalyst. Under visible light, the viability loss of the reference bacterial strain Escherichia coli DSM 1103 was two times higher than with the bare P25; it was observed 29% of inactivation with the P25/graphene composite and 14% with the P25 sample, following standard ISO 27447:2009.

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In the present work, 100% cotton knitted fabrics were functionalized with ZnO nanoparticles, in order to enhance the hydrophobic properties of the fibers surface. The incorporation methods of ZnO NPs and different types of cotton samples (including polymer coated, and uncoated with and without a nonionic pretreatment) were evaluated, in order to understand the influence in the hydrophobicity values. Cotton fabrics with and without NPs were characterized by ground-state diffuse reflectance, field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy, attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and water contact angle (WCA). The best results were obtained when the polymer-coated fabric was functionalized using a precursor concentration of 0.2 M, exhibiting superhydrophobic behavior with static WACs of more than 150°. Although pretreated and untreated ZnO-functionalized cotton fabrics had a slightly lower wettability, they showed interesting results, with improvements in WCA from 116° to 143°. In summary, this work demonstrates that the ZnO NPs have a huge potential to be used as surface finishings for the development of easy cleaning fibrous structures.

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