Self-cleaning cotton functionalized with TiO2/SiO2: focus on the role of silica

This manuscript aims to investigate the functionalization of cotton fabrics with TiO2/SiO2. In this study, the sol-gel method was employed to prepare titania and silica sols and the functionalization was carried out using the dip-pad-dry-cure process. Titanium tetra isopropoxide (TTIP) and tetra ethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) were utilized as precursors of TiO2 and SiO2, respectively. TiO2/SiO2 composite sols were prepared in three different Ti:Si molar ratios of 1:0.43, 1:1, and 1:2.33. The self-cleaning property of cotton samples functionalized with TiO2/SiO2 was assessed based on the coffee stain removal capability and the decomposition rate of methylene blue under UV irradiation. FTIR study of the TiO2/SiO2 photocatalyst confirmed the existence of Si-O-Si and Ti-O-Si bonds. Scanning electron microscopy was employed to investigate the morphology of the functionalized cotton samples. The samples coated with TiO2/SiO2 showed greater ability of coffee stain removal and methylene blue degradation compared with samples functionalized with TiO2 demonstrating improved self-cleaning properties. The role of SiO2 in improving these properties is also discussed.