Zinc oxide nano particles coating on polyester fabric functionalized through alkali treatment

In recent years, zinc oxide nano particles coating on textiles such as polyester is considered because of UV blocking and self-cleaning properties. Alkaline hydrolysis of polyester is a method in textile industry for surface treatment in large scale to enhance wettability. In the present work, polyester fabric was treated with sodium hydroxide, then was coated with ZnO nano particles, and also polyester fabric was treated with sodium hydroxide and ZnO nano particles at the same time. The bending length, water adsorption time, bactericidal properties, atomic absorption spectroscopy, and self-cleaning effect were measured according to the standard methods. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis were used for the study of surface morphology and surface chemical bonding. The results demonstrated that increasing of zinc oxide nano particles concentration increased bending length, water adsorption time, antibacterial and self-cleaning effect. Comparing with pre-alkaline and simultaneous alkali treatment showed that pre-alkaline-treated fabric had more zinc oxide nano particles, therefore more self-cleaning and bactericidal effect. The scanning electron microscopy of alkaline-treated polyester fabric showed surface hydrolysis and nano-particles on the surface of polyester, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectroscopy indicated chemical bonding.