Combined UV-protecting and reactive printing of Cellulosic/wool blends

A novel approach for attaining reactive cotton/wool and viscose/wool prints with outstanding UV-protection functions was achieved via inclusion of certain UV-absorbers namely 4-hydroxybenzophenone and UV-SUN® or UV-blockers like ZnO-NPs and TiO2-NPs along with MCT-βCD, as a reactive additive, in the printing paste formulation using Na-alginate as a thickening agent. Experimental results reveal that the inorganic UV-blockers exhibit better UV-protection functions compared with the used UV-absorbers, and the improvement in the imparted UV-protection capacity follows the decreasing order: ZnO-NPs > TiO2-NPs > 4-hyroxybenzopherone ≥ UV-SUN® ≫ none > untreated. The enhancement in UV-protection functionality is governed by the type of substrate, cotton/wool > viscose/wool, extent of modification and loading of the used nano-metal oxides or organic absorbers onto the fabric surface as well functionality and ability of the used reactive dyes to absorb the hazardous UV-B radiation. The obtained functional prints exhibited outstanding UV-protection efficiency even after 15 washing cycles.