Durable Antibacterial Functionality of Cotton/Polyester Blended Fabrics Using Antibiotic/MONPs Composite

To fulfil the ever-growing demand for durable and multi-resistant textile fabrics against pathogenic bacteria, this work is aim to investigate the dual effect of coating cotton/polyester fabrics by composite of antibiotics/metal oxide nanoparticles. To carry out this study, cotton/polyester blended fabrics with different constructions were coated with ZnONPs, ZrO(2)NPs, antibiotics namely doxymycin, cefadroxil, and ciprofloxacin (1 % w/v) individually and combined in presence of citric acid and sodium hypophosphite as a crosslinking agent and a catalyst respectively. Nitrogen content (%N), metal content, and antibacterial activity as well as performance and physical properties were assessed. Full characterization of untreated and treated fabrics by FTIR, SEM and EDX analysis were also carried out to confirm the binding and fixation of the used antibiotics and/or MONPs onto/within the fabric structure. The results revealed that the coated fabric samples by antibiotic/MONPs exhibited high nitrogen and metal contents as well as excellent antibacterial activity compared to the coated fabrics by the nominated MONPs and antibiotics individually. The results also showed that the variation in the antibacterial functionality, performance and physical properties of the treated fabrics are governed by the type of substrate, type of construction and type of additives. Additionally, coated fabrics evinced satisfactory antibacterial efficacy even after 15 washing cycles.