Differential surface characterizations of cotton fibers coated with TiO ₂ and ZnO nanoparticles for nano-based analysis of fabrics

Fibers are the unit component for product development. They can be divided into two types: synthetic and natural fibers. Recently, emerging nanotechnology has played a vital role in advancing next-generation fabrics. The nanomaterials provide several unique properties such as higher conductivity, self-cleaning, water-resistant, and others. Owing to their advanced properties, the fabrics are being developed by coating and integrating with nanomaterials. Therefore, in the presented work two cotton samples were modified with titanium dioxide (TiO ₂ ) and zinc oxide (ZnO). These samples were further examined under various techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-visible spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Furthermore, these samples were evaluated at varying wavelengths with UV light and the obtained results demonstrated that the nano-coated fiber samples can be differentiated at 365 nm.