Abstract:
A new route to make cotton fabric self-cleaning and permanently stiff by coating cellulose-TiO2 on its
surface is demonstrated herein. Cellulose-TiO2 dispersion was used for coating and was prepared by
mixing TiO2 nanoparticles with cellulose in 60% H2SO4 solution. The surface morphology of celluloseTiO2 nanoparticles coated sample was analyzed by SEM. The appearance of white TiO2 particles on the
surface of the cotton fabric confirmed the successful coating process. The Orange II dye was used as
stain and its degradation was observed under UV light. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that cellulose
II content increases slightly (by 5.3%) after the solvent treatment. Washing fastness study showed that
the fabric stiffness was permanent and self-cleaning properties were stable with 1, 3 and 5% TiO2 coated
samples. Air and water vapor permeability was not decreased considerably, whereas tensile strength was
increased significantly after coating.
