Photo bleaching of wool using nano TiO2 under daylight irradiation

Wool bleaching is usually carried out on raw wool through treatment with oxidizing or reducing agents. Here, nano TiO2 as a photocatalyst was applied on raw wool fabric to decompose the naturally occurred pigments under daylight irradiation. To enhance nano particles adsorption on the fabric, it was first treated with protease and then treated with nano TiO2 along with citric acid. The whiteness and yellowness indexes and hydrophilicity features of the treated wool fabrics indicated a reasonable whiteness with a significant improved hydrophilicity. This new wool bleaching approach was named as “nano photo bleaching” as a most successful bleaching application.