Nano TiO ₂ /amino-benzotriazole functionalization of cotton knitted fabrics for ultraviolet protection and antibacteria by pad-dry method

In this work, multifunctional knitted fabrics with ultraviolet resistance and antibacterial properties are presented. The functional coating was fabricated on cotton fabric through a facile one step pad-dry process after being dipped in benzotriazole derivative and titanium dioxide mixture solution. Alkali catalyzed polymerization was applied to synthesis amino-benzotriazole, which could form covalent bonds with cellulose after fixation on cotton fiber. The coating was compacted and agglutinated to the cotton fibers, which were observed by scanning electron microscopy, the wash fastness also revealed the bonding capacity. The ultraviolet protection factor was calculated by the transmittance value, the results illustrated tremendous improvement in the ultraviolet protection factor of the functionalized knitted fabrics, since the energy absorption and surface nanoparticles scatters of incident ultraviolet radiation. Moreover, the attenuation rate of ultraviolet resistance is low. The bursting strength, pilling resistance, air permeability and moisture resistance of the functionalized knitted fabrics demonstrated their good wearing comfort properties. In addition, the as-constructed fabrics also showed a strong ability to resist Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.