Deposition of Ag doped TiO2 on cotton fabric for wash durable UV protective and antibacterial properties at very low silver concentration

Cotton fabric with wash durable UV protective and effective antibacterial properties was developed in this work. In this work, TiO2 was deposited on cotton fabric by a sol gel process using titanium tetra iso-propoxide as the precursor. In the initial stage of its deposition, TiO2 is amorphous in nature which has to be given a prolonged hydrothermal treatment for development of anatase crystalline form and enhanced catalytic activity. As a novelty, a small amount of silver precursor was added during the hydrothermal stage. It was found that TiO2 was doped with silver during hydrothermal stage with very low silver concentration. The concentration of silver was low enough (<100 ppm) not to cause any change in the color of cotton fabric but high enough to develop strong antibacterial character in cotton both against Staphylococcus aureus and Eschrichia coli. The presence of TiO2 ensured good UV protection (UPF > 60). However, the UPF increased dramatically when TiO2 was doped with silver.