Anti-ultraviolet treatment by functionalizing cationized cotton with TiO ₂ nano-sol and reactive dye

A new approach for ultraviolet (UV) protection of cotton fabrics based on TiO ₂ nano-sol and reactive dye was studied. Cotton fabrics were cationized with different amounts of 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethylammonium chloride. TiO ₂ nano-sol was prepared by the sol-gel method using tetraisopropyl orthotitanate and applied on cationized cotton fabrics with different quantities using the same finishing formulation and treatment sequence. Treated fabrics were then dyed with various concentrations of BH-3RS-Reactive yellow 176. Samples were further tested for UV protection factor, color strength, color fastness to washing, durability and tensile strength. The chemical and morphological structures of the coated fabrics were characterized by attenuated total reflection–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry. Cationized cotton fabrics treated with TiO ₂ nano-sol and dyed with reactive dye showed better UV protection with slight reduction in color depth ( K/ S) and tensile strength.