Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles using PS-b-PAA reverse micelle cores for UV protective, self-cleaning and antibacterial textile applications

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles have been synthesized in reverse micelle cores of PS(10912)-b-PAA(3638) copolymer synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) at various precursor:copolymer ratios. The size and morphology of nano ZnO particles have been characterized via TEM and XRD measurements. The average size of nano ZnO particles were determined as 25 ± 6, 21 ± 4 and 22 ± 6 nm for Zn+2:copolymer ratios of 10:1, 20:1 and 40:1, respectively. The copolymer solution including nano ZnO particles has been coated onto textile fabrics to enhance UV-blocking, self-cleaning and anti-bacterial properties. Ultraviolet protecting factor (UPF) indicating UV-blocking properties of nano ZnO coated textile fabrics were determined as 60, 179 and 271 for Zn+2:copolymer ratios of 10:1, 20:1 and 40:1, respectively. Also, self-cleaning capacity was determined by investigating photocatalytic activity of methylene blue as well as antibacterial activity against facultative gram-negative Escherichia coli and aerobic gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. It has been determined that the UV protective textile fabrics have rather high photocatalytic efficiency with 78.2% and antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus.