Zn-based hybrid coatings as antibacterial textile finishing

Zinc-based sol-gel coating was developed to achieve durable antibacterial properties on cotton fabrics. Moreover, to investigate the influence of hybrid crosslinker on the proposed antibacterial finishing, the above proposed sol was mixed with 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane precursor to produce zinc-containing silica coatings on the cotton fibres. The surface morphology of the treated fabrics was investigated by SEM, while process parameters were assessed by tests against Escherichia coli bacteria. Thus, antibacterial activity of selected coatings was tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae and the obtained results showed high antibacterial properties, with a slight decrease activity only after 10 cycles of washing. The results demonstrated that the proposed treatments effectively improve durable antibacterial properties to the treated cotton fabrics.