Synthesis of Nano-sized Zinc Oxide and Its Application for Cellulosic Textiles

IN THIS article zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-particles are synthesized through the alkali precipitation method using zinc acetate as a precursor and sodium hydroxide as basic source. The characterization of nanosized zinc oxide particles and their application in the pretreatment processes of cotton textiles have been studied for the resistance against bacteria and fungus, color strength enhancement and fastness properties improvement in addition to studying the effect of zinc oxide nano-particles incorporation into the printing paste on fixation method of the prints. The nanoparticles composition as well as their shape, size and crystallinity has been studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-Ray powder Diffraction (XRD). The synthesized ZnO nanoparticles have particle size lies between 200300 nm for the calcinated and higher than 400 for the dried one. The synthesized ZnO nano-particle shows antibacterial activity towards microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) and affects positively color fastness of printed fabrics, especially those treated with thermo-fixation process after printing. The results showed that the performances of zinc oxide as finishing agent can significantly improve printed cotton fabrics properties.