Antiviral and antibacterial cotton woven fabric functionalized with CuNPs/ZnONPs- silane sols

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the development of functional fabrics with novel or improved bioactive properties. This trend has intensified during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We modified cotton (CO) fabrics using ZnO and Cu nanoparticles in vinyltrimethoxysilane (VIN) sol, giving them tailored antiviral and antibacterial properties. The CO woven fabric was pretreated with polydopamine and then functionalized with 1 wt% and 2.5 wt% of CuNPs, ZnONPs, and their mixture in VIN sols using the dip-coating method. The physicochemical effects of the modifications were assessed by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, SEM/EDS and AAS techniques and goniometric analysis. The modified fabrics become highly hydrophobic (the water contact angle amounts about 140 deg). The strongest antiviral activities against Human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) were found for fabrics functionalized using sol with 2.5 wt% of CuNPs and the mixture of both nanoparticles. All modified fabrics also have strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumonia bacteria, which amounts from 4.57 to 6.17 and from 6.28 to 6.38, respectively. The results of the MTT test using HaCat and A549 cells showed no toxic effect of the fabrics.