Chitosan and TiO2 functionalized polypropylene nonwoven fabrics with visible light induced photocatalytic antibacterial performances

Yu Ren; Ziyao Zhao; Tingyue Fan; Rui Luan; Lirong Yao; Hong Shen; Xingqi Hu; Li Cui; Mei-Xian Li

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126305

Chitosan and TiO₂ functionalized polypropylene nonwoven fabrics with visible light induced photocatalytic antibacterial performances

Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Oct 1:250:126305. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126305. Epub 2023 Aug 11.

Authors

Yu Ren¹, Ziyao Zhao¹, Tingyue Fan¹, Rui Luan¹, Lirong Yao¹, Hong Shen², Xingqi Hu², Li Cui³, Mei-Xian Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Textile and Clothing, Nantong University, Jiangsu 226019, China.
² Huzhou Zhongshi Technology Co., Ltd., Xin Feng Ming Group, Zhejiang 313000, China.
³ College of Materials and Textile Engineering, Jiaxing University, Zhejiang 314001, China.
⁴ School of Textile and Clothing, Nantong University, Jiangsu 226019, China. Electronic address: lmx321@ntu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37573905
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126305

Abstract

Chitosan/TiO₂ functionalized polypropylene (CS/TiO₂/PP) nonwoven fabrics were fabricated through crosslinking of chitosan with glutaraldehyde followed by loading of TiO₂ nanoparticles. The functionalized CS/TiO₂/PP has super hydrophilicity and excellent visible light induced photocatalytic antibacterial properties owing to the synergistic effects of CS and TiO₂. The photocatalytic degradation performance was determined by assessing the degradation of methyl blue under simulated visible light irradiation and its recyclability was also evaluated. In addition, SEM images demonstrated that TiO₂ nanoparticles were distributed evenly on the surface of the 2 g/L CS/TiO₂/PP. Meanwhile, the polypropylene surface showed a significant increase in hydrophilicity after being treated with chitosan and TiO₂. The photocatalytic degradation results revealed that CS/TiO₂/PP had higher photocatalytic properties than those of pure PP under visible light, and the degradation rate of methylene blue reached 96.4 % after 90 min of light exposure. Compared to pure PP, the antibacterial properties of CS/TiO₂/PP significantly increased, and the bacterial reduction percentages were increased to 98.7 % and 96.3 %, against E. coli and S. aureus, respectively. The functionalized CS/TiO₂/PP composites exhibited promising potential in environmentally friendly antibacterial materials.

Keywords: Chitosan; Photocatalytic; TiO(2).