Nanotitania/mulberry fibers as novel textile with anti-yellowing and intrinsic antimicrobial properties

The present work for the first time introduces a new class of textile consisting of mulberry fibers uniformly laden with titania nanorods. This unique natural-synthetic composite textile is self-cleaning and environmental friendly. The utilized composite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and UV–vis diffused reflectance spectrum (UV-DRS). The SEM images clearly show homogeneous distribution of titania nanorods on the surface of mulberry fibers (MF). XRD and FTIR results confirm the presence of titania in the composite materials. Antimicrobial potential and UV protection due to presence of titania nanorods on MFs was investigated in this study. Results of this investigation indicated that MFs-TiO2 composite exhibit admirable antibacterial activity. From the antimicrobial kinetic test on E. coli, it was established that the composite textile possess improved bactericidal activity than pure mulberry textile. Moreover, titania present on the mulberry fibers impart anti-yellowing, self-cleaning properties, which were endorsed due to the scattering effect of UV radiation by titania nanorods. Thus our study provides the clue/grounds to select mulberry fibers/titania composite as a material of choice for fabrication of promising antimicrobial future textile.