Surface coatings of polyester fabrics using titanium dioxide and zinc oxide for multifunctional medical applications

Medical textiles require essential properties to achieve their functional performance efficiency. At present, nanoparticles (NPs) play an important role to improve the properties of textile applications. This study featured four manufactured polyester fabrics with different specifications using plain 1/1 structures. Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide (TiO2 NPs/ZnO NPs) were used to treat the manufactured samples; and demonstrate the possibility of enhancing the dyeing properties of polyester fabrics parallel with self-cleaning, ultraviolet (UV) resistance and antibacterial properties. Some mechanical properties were measured to investigate the performance of manufactured samples, and modification was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray (SEM/EDX). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to statistically analyze the significant differences between the results of the mechanical properties pre- and posttreatment. It is further demonstrated that the Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) value of treated samples with TiO2 NPs shows high UV radiation protection followed by samples treated with ZnO NPs as compared with untreated samples. Furthermore, the photocatalytic properties of TiO2 and ZnO NPs show better self-cleaning activity as compared to untreated fabrics. The color strength of two disperse dyes is improved with the incorporation of both TiO2 and ZnO NPs in treated polyester fabric. In addition, the antibacterial activities of the treated undyed samples coded (Z15, Z33 and Z27) have excellent results against pathogenic bacterial strains and fungal yeast and this is maintained in the treated dyed sample coded (Z33) after washing it five times.