Low starch/corn silk/ZnO as environmentally friendly nanocomposites assembling on PET fabrics

Novel photo and bio-active greyish-black cotton fabric through air- and nitrogen- carbonized zinc-based MOF for developing durable functional textiles

This study explores the potential of using the carbonization of Zn-based metal-organic frameworks (Zn-MOF-5) under N2 and air to modify zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle for the production of various photo and bio-active greyish-black cotton fabrics. The MOF-derived ZnO under N2 demonstrated a significantly higher specific surface area (259 m2g-1) compared to ZnO (12 m2g-1) and MOF-derived ZnO under air (41.6 m2 g-1). The products were characterized using various techniques, including FTIR, XRD, XPS, FE-SEM, TEM, HRTEM, TGA, DLS, and EDS. The tensile strength and dye degradation properties of the treated fabrics were also investigated. The results indicate that the high dye degradation capability of MOF-derived ZnO under N2 is likely due to the lower ZnO band gap energy and improvement in electron-hole pair stability. Additionally, the antibacterial activities of the treated fabrics against Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were investigated. The cytotoxicity of the fabrics was studied on human fibroblast cell lines using an MTT assay. The study findings demonstrate that the cotton fabric covered with carbonized Zn-MOF under N2 is human-cell compatible while showing high antibacterial activities and stability against washing, highlighting its potential for use in developing functional textiles with enhanced properties.

Improved cotton fabrics properties using zinc oxide-based nanomaterials: A review

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have gained significant attention in the textile industry for their ability to enhance the physicochemical properties of fabrics. In recent years, there has been a growing focus on the development of ZnO-based nanomaterials and their applications for cotton and other fabrics. This review paper provides an overview of the synthesis and diverse applications of ZnO-based nanomaterials for textile fabrics, including protection against UV irradiation, bacteria, fungi, microwave, electromagnetic radiation, water, and fire. Furthermore, the study offers the potential of these materials in energy harvesting applications, such as wearable pressure sensors, piezoelectric nanogenerators, supercapacitors, and human energy harvesting. Additionally, we discuss the potential of ZnO-based nanomaterials for environmental cleaning, including water, oil, and solid cleaning. The current research in this area has focused on various materials used to prepare ZnO-based nanocomposites, such as metals/nonmetals, semiconductors, metal oxides, carbon materials, polymers, MXene, metal-organic frameworks, and layered double hydroxides. The findings of this review highlight the potential of ZnO-based nanomaterials to improve the performance of textile fabrics in a range of applications, and the importance of continued research in this field to further advance the development and use of ZnO-based nanomaterials in the textile industry.

Environmental benign foam finishing with a hyperbranched polyphosphonate flame retardant for polyethylene terephthalate fabric

It is still a big challenge for textile industry in improving fire resistance and reducing melt dripping with minimal loss on the physical properties of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabrics. In this work, a highly-effective hyperbranched flame retardant (DT) was first synthesized by ester exchange without using any organic solvent. Then, the DT foam was prepared and blade coated on PET fabric to improve the fire performance. The prepared PET fabric with only 2.7% weight gain of DT was self-extinguished and did not produce any molten dripping during the vertical flammable test. The peak heat release rate and total heat release of the PET fabric sample with 19.4% DT were decreased by 42.0% and 57.1%, respectively compared with that of the control PET. Besides, the as-prepared PET fabric sample showed better physical properties such as breaking strength, vapor permeability, air permeability, antistatic property, and softness than the control PET fabric sample. The DT foam finishing process did not involve any organic solvent and consumed less water and energy compared with conventional fabric treatments. It is expected that this work provides a facile and eco-friendly strategy for fabricating flame retardant PET fabric with excellent comprehensive performances.

Extraction Optimization, Preliminary Identification, and Bioactivities in Corn Silk

For thousands of years, corn silk has been widely used as an antidiabetic, antioxidant, and antihyperlipidemic and for other effects, but there is a lack of studies that correlate the extracts of flavonoid composition with their biological activities. Thus, the objectives of this study were to optimize the conditions for extracting flavonoids, identify flavonoids, and correlate the flavonoid composition with the biological activities in corn silk. The response surface experiments showed that the highest flavonoid content was predicted at 45.321 min, 57.349°C, 26.089 mL/g, and 71.269%, respectively. The verification experiment results under these optimized conditions showed an ultrasonic time of 45 min, an ultrasonic temperature of 57°C, a liquid-to-material ratio of 26, and an ethanol volume fraction of 70%. No significant differences (the relative error is 4.378%) were observed between the theoretical and experimental TFC values, indicating that the developed models were accurate. Under these optimum extraction conditions, 20 major compounds were identified and quantified by UPLC-LTQ/Orbitrap MS. Furthermore, these optimum ethanol extracts of corn silk are effective against Bacillus subtilis and hypoglycemic activity compared with the traditional heating reflux extraction method. Six corn silk components seem to be the main contributors to the inhibitory effect against Bacillus subtilis and hyperglycemia activities. These results are useful for the application of corn silk in the food or pharmaceutical industry.

Polysaccharides and Metal Nanoparticles for Functional Textiles: A Review

Nanotechnology is a powerful tool for engineering functional materials that has the potential to transform textiles into high-performance, value-added products. In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the development of functional textiles using metal nanoparticles (MNPs). The incorporation of MNPs in textiles allows for the obtention of multifunctional properties, such as ultraviolet (UV) protection, self-cleaning, and electrical conductivity, as well as antimicrobial, antistatic, antiwrinkle, and flame retardant properties, without compromising the inherent characteristics of the textile. Environmental sustainability is also one of the main motivations in development and innovation in the textile industry. Thus, the synthesis of MNPs using ecofriendly sources, such as polysaccharides, is of high importance. The main functions of polysaccharides in these processes are the reduction and stabilization of MNPs, as well as the adhesion of MNPs onto fabrics. This review covers the major research attempts to obtain textiles with different functional properties using polysaccharides and MNPs. The main polysaccharides reported include chitosan, alginate, starch, cyclodextrins, and cellulose, with silver, zinc, copper, and titanium being the most explored MNPs. The potential applications of these functionalized textiles are also reported, and they include healthcare (wound dressing, drug release), protection (antimicrobial activity, UV protection, flame retardant), and environmental remediation (catalysts).

Hydro electroactive Cu/Zn coated cotton fiber nonwovens for antibacterial and antiviral applications

In this study, Cu/Zn galvanic electrodes were sputtered on the two surfaces of hydrophilic cotton fiber nonwovens (Cotton) to prepare hydro electroactive Cu/Cotton/Zn composites. When the Cu/Cotton/Zn was used as a functional layer in the face mask, the Cu/Zn galvanic electrodes can be spontaneously activated by water vapor molecules exhaled by the human body and generate galvanic current. Based on this, the hydro electroactive Cu/Cotton/Zn demonstrated excellent antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and could deactivate Enterovirus 71 (EV71) virions transmitted through the respiratory tract by 97.72% after 15 min of contact. Moreover, the Cu/Cotton/Zn did not affect the particle filtration efficiency and breathability of the face mask's polypropylene (PP) melt-blown layer. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity assessment of Cu/Cotton/Zn showed no cytotoxicity, indicating good biological security. Overall, the Cu/Cotton/Zn may provide a new approach to increase the antibacterial and antiviral performance of current personnel protective equipment on the market.

Synthesis of starch nanoparticles with controlled morphology and various adsorption rate for urea

Starch nanoparticles (SNPs) with different morphology and particle size can be prepared by modulating the reaction conditions over SNPs preparation. This study was to synthesize various SNPs by using ultrasound assisted nanoprecipitation method, and characterized by particle size analysis, SEM and XRD performing. SNPs were successfully produced via nanoprecipitation and the particle size were controlled in the range of 95 to 150 nm. Moreover, variously different morphologies were obtained when using corn, potato or Trichosanthes kirilowii pulp (TKP) starch to produce nanoparticles, including fiber, flake and film. Results shown film TKP SNPs demonstrated an improved urea adsorption rate to 135.60 mg/g with the highest q_m at 1.00 mg/mL. SNPs can be developed using ultrasound assisted nanoprecipitation method and the particle size together with surface morphology can be varied according to the source of starch and preparation method, while surface morphology is the key factor in altering adsorption performance.

Non-Leaching, Rapid Bactericidal and Biocompatible Polyester Fabrics Finished with Benzophenone Terminated N-halamine

Pathogenic bacteria can proliferate rapidly on porous fabrics to form bacterial plaques/biofilms, resulting in potential sources of cross-transmissions of diseases and increasing cross-infection in public environments. Many works on antibacterial modification of cotton fabrics have been reported, while very few works were reported to endow poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fabrics with non-leaching antibacterial function without compromising their innate physicochemical properties though PET is the most widely used fabric. Therefore, it is urgent to impart the PET fabrics with non-leaching antibacterial activity. Herein, a novel N-halamine compound, 1-chloro-3-benzophenone-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (Cl-BPDMH), was developed to be covalently bonded onto PET fabrics, rendering non-leaching antibacterial activity while negligible cytotoxicity based on contact-killing principle. Bacterial was easily adhered to Cl-BPDMH finished PET fabrics, and then it was inactivated quickly within 10 s. Furthermore, the breaking strength, breaking elongation, tearing strength, water vapor permeability, air permeability and whiteness of Cl-BPDMH finished PET fabrics were improved obviously compared to raw PET fabrics. Hence, this work developed a facile approach to fabricate multifunctional synthetic textiles to render outstanding and rapid bactericidal activity without compromising their physicochemical properties and biocompatibility.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42765-021-00100-z.