Functional polyester fabric through simultaneous aminolysis and nano ZnO synthesis

Here, in situ synthesis of nano zinc oxide, along with aminolysis of polyester fabric, has simultaneously been carried out by using triethanol amine (TEA) and zinc acetate. The ZnO nano particles (NPs) were formed and stabilized on the fabric surface by amine compound at 130 °C for 1 h. The synthesis of nano ZnO particles on the polyester fabric were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The mean size of ZnO NP was obtained with SEM about 51.38 nm, however, XRD data indicated the crystalline ZnO NPs with a mean crystal size of 14.68 nm on the fabric surface. Further, self-cleaning performance of the treated fabrics was studied by degradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution under daylight irradiation. The stability of ZnO NPs on the fabric surface was studied by evaluating the self-cleaning and hydrophilicity properties of the samples after standard washing. Also, the hydrophilicity of the treated polyester fabric was improved due to aminolysis of the fabric and the required time for water droplet to spread on the treated fabric after one week exposure to daylight reduced. Overall, TEA was a suitable reducing agent to prepare homogenous ZnO NPs on the polyester fabric.