The main goal of this study is to develop a facile eco‐friendly method for antibacterial/ultraviolet (UV)‐blocking functionalisation using various green bioactive functional additives namely neem, jojoba, argan, aloe vera, ginger, and tulsi. In addition, pigment coloration of cellulosic substrates including cotton, viscose, cotton/viscose, and cotton/linen using pigment colourants and appropriate printing auxiliaries in one step was used. The experimental results revealed that the durability, improvement in the imparted antibacterial/UV‐blocking functional properties and enhancement in the depth of the obtained pigment prints followed a decreasing order: tulsi > ginger > aloe vera > argan > jojoba > neem ≫ none, keeping other parameters constant. The obtained data also demonstrated that the developed pigment prints exhibited remarkable functionalities and depth of shade after 15 washing cycles. Moreover, it was observed that improvement in the imparted functional and coloration properties were a function of types of cellulosic substrate and the kind of colourant. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis for selected samples confirmed the surface modification, morphology changes and immobilisation of the used active ingredients onto the treated substrates.

In the present work, β-CD, ZnO-NPs, and several eco-friendly bioactive guests, namely, cinnamon oil, lemon oil, lavender oil, and vanillin along with environmentally benign pigment paste constituents were applied to cotton, viscose, cotton/viscose, and cotton/linen cellulosic substrates to develop durable multi-functional pigment prints in a single step using the pad-dry-thermofixation method. The developed one-step pigment coloration and multi-functionalization method resulted in a remarkable improvement in antibacterial efficacy, UV-protection ability, aroma property along with a noticeable increase in depth of the obtained pigment prints, making them very useful for a wide range of potential applications. The extent of enhancement in the above-mentioned functional and coloration properties is governed by type of cellulosic substrate, presence of β-CD/ZnO-NPs, type of bioactive agent as well as kind of pigment colorant. Among the used bioactive agents, lavender oil proved to be the best for attaining multi-functional and pigment coloration properties, keeping other parameters constant. The obtained results also demonstrated that increasing washing cycles up to 15 washes resulted in a slight decrease in the imparted functional and coloration properties, regardless of the used cellulosic substrate. Both SEM images and EDX spectra confirmed the surface modification and ZnO-NPs immobilization onto the selected fabric surfaces. Mode of interactions among the different printing paste constituents and the cellulosic substrates were also suggested.