Preparation and characterization of self-cleaning cotton fabric loaded with self-dispersive and reactive biphasic TiO2

Abstract

In this article, amino functionalized TiO2 (TiO2/KH550) was obtained in a mild reaction between 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and TiO2 with the aid of concentrated ammonia solution. 4-(4,6-dichloro-1,3,5-triazine-2-yl) amino) sodium benzenesulfonate (SAT) was synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Self-dispersive and reactive TiO2 (TiO2/KH550/SAT) was prepared by nucleophile substitution reaction between TiO2/KH550 and SAT. Finally, cotton fabrics loaded with different amounts of TiO2/KH550/SAT were achieved by pad-dry-cure method. The chemical structure, dispersion and thermal performance of TiO2, TiO2/KH550 and TiO2/KH550/SAT were investigated by FT-IR, zeta potential and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). The crystalline phase, morphology, chemical composition and optical absorption property of cotton fabrics were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS). Moreover, the anti-ultraviolet, self-cleaning and washing fastness properties of cotton fabrics were investigated. It has been found that TiO2/KH550/SAT demonstrated excellent dispersion stability in aqueous even after standing for a month. Cotton fabrics loaded with TiO2/KH550/SAT possessed adorable anti-ultraviolet performance, highly efficient and durable self-cleaning activity as well as appreciable washing fastness property. The mechanism and possible reactions for the preparation of self-cleaning cotton fabrics loaded with TiO2/KH550/SAT were proposed.