RESUMO
Superhydrophobic cotton fabrics were fabricated using chitosan/titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanocomposites. Morphology results revealed that the fabric's surface was utterly coated by the nanoparticles leading to the formation of a highly packed nano-scale structure in the case of superhydrophobic coating. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results also proved that TiO2 nanoparticles were highly adsorbed onto the fabric's top layer. Durability of the superhydrophobic coating was investigated by immersing the fabric into harsh solutions and also by subjecting the fabric to sonication. The results showed the high resistance of the superhydrophobic fabric against harsh conditions. The nanocomposite-coated fabrics were found to exhibit promising UV-protecting properties especially for the superhydrophobic fabric which showed around 80% enhancement in the UV protecting properties as compared with the uncoated fabric. The bacterial adhesion results revealed that the combination of chitosan and TiO2 results in high antibacterial properties against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria. The bacterial reduction percentages were further increased to 99.8 and 97.3% against E. coli and S. aureus, respectively, once the superhydrophobic character was also induced to the fabrics. The developed nanocomposite coated fabrics exhibited promising potential to be used as antibacterial and self-cleaning garments in hospital-related applications.