Sonocatalytic induced dye degradation and antibacterial performance of SrTiO₃ nanoparticles embedded cotton fabric

In the present work, a pigment paste was prepared by adding strontium titanate (SrTiO3) nanoparticles (NPs) particles to a water and adhesive binder paste. Screen printing was utilized to embed the cotton fabric with the prepared pigment paste. Sonocatalytic induced antibacterial and dye mineralization abilities were evaluated for the printed fabric. The produced samples were examined for efficacy against the pathogens E. coli and S. aureus. The prepared SrTiO3 embedded cotton fabric inhibited (after 2 h) E. coli and S. aureus by 99.3% and 96.09%, respectively. The coated fabric was able to reduce pathogens by more than 92% even after 15 washing cycles. The Rhodamine B (RhB) dye was mineralized by 53% in 210 min by STO printed fabric as opposed to about 8% by pristine cotton. The results revealed that the intrinsic properties of cotton including tensile, abrasion, and air permeability remained unaffected by the printing of STO-NPs onto fabric.