Wet chemical preparation of herbal nanocomposites from medicinal plant leaves for enhanced coating on textile fabrics with multifunctional properties

The present study is aimed at the synthesis of different herbal nanoparticles from Acalypha indica , Azadirachta indica , Piper betle , Tridax procumbens and Aloe vera plant leaves through wet processing method i.e., solution based synthesis for the development of a biocompatible nanomaterials with excellent medicinal properties. The efficiency of herbal nanoparticles are determined by subjecting a comparative assessment among the various herbal nanoparticles in virtue of their physico-chemical as well as their functional properties when coated on cotton fabrics. The prepared five different herbal nanoparticles show amorphous nature having an average particle size distribution ranges from 21 to 27 nm. Tridax procumbens nanoparticles exhibit higher antioxidant activity (98.17%) while tested against DPPH assessment. Nevertheless, the herbal nanocomposites prepared from Aloe vera with chitosan polymer shows higher protection (UPF = 62.3) than the fabric coated with other herbal nanoparticles. The superhydrophobic properties (154.5°) and higher antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli (33.13 mm) and Staphylococcus aureus (35.62 mm) for the Azadirachta indica nanocomposite coated cotton fabrics shows comparably more effectiveness than that of the other counterpart. The present study helps to identify the appropriate processing methods as well as herbal nanoparticles for enhanced the self-cleaning, UV-protection, antibacterial and antioxidant activity in biomedical textiles.