Tunable shaped N-doped CuO nanoparticles on cotton fabric through processing conditions: synthesis, antibacterial behavior and mechanical properties

N-doped copper oxide nanoparticles with different sizes and shapes were chemically synthesized on bleached cotton fabric. Various analysis methods including XRD, EDX, SEM, FTIR and UV-Vis were used to determine the presence, structure, shape, size and morphology of the nanoparticles. The effect of temperature, pH and processing time was studied to optimize the conditions for producing small nanoparticles with narrow size distribution and low agglomeration. Wheat-like and spherical shaped N-doped copper oxide nanoparticles were in situ synthesized on cotton fiber with different loadings. The treated cotton fabrics indicated higher hydrophobicity, tenacity, tensile stress and elongation. Further, the treated cotton fabrics showed considerable antibacterial properties against a gram-positive S. aureus and a gram-negative E. coli bacteria. The release of nanoparticles in the washing bath was measured by atomic absorption confirmed the reasonable durability and safety of the treated fabrics. Overall, the cotton fabrics treated with CuO nanoparticles have potential application in electronics as well as medical and technical textiles.