An alternative method of synthesizing ZnO-TiO 2 nanorods is through route precipitation and sintering at 600 C. In this study, the introduction of Ti into Zn in the molar ratio Ti:Zn (1:3) produced a composite ZnO-Low TiO 2 (ZnO-LTiO 2 ) while 1:1 produced ZnO-High TiO 2 (ZnO-HTiO 2 ). The effect of the Ti introduced on the antibacterial properties of ZnO-TiO 2 nanorods was investigated with the product structure characterized by XRD and the optimal intensity at 2θ: 31.72 , 34.37 , 36.19 showed a Wurzite structure and a crystal size of 35.8-41.5 nm. The average pore diameters for ZnO-LTiO 2 and ZnO-HTiO 2 were around 5.159 nm and 6.828 nm while the surface areas were 15.692 m 2 /g and 15.421 m 2 /g respectively. The anti-bacterial textile fiber construction was prepared using dip-spin coating with the application of an adipic acid crosslinker for 6 h and stable coating up to 10 times washing. The improvement of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) antibacterial properties in the textiles with coating had an inhibition zone of 20.5-25.0 mm and 16.2 mm without the coating. The elements of the cotton fiber construction include C at 54.60%, O at 40.89%, Ti at 0.81% and Zn at 2.60% while the TG-DTA analysis conducted showed an increase in the heat stability of the textile fibers to a temperature of 400 C, after which the textiles were modified by coating ZnO-TiO 2 nanorods. The findings of this research could be successfully applied to improve the antibacterial properties of textiles.

A series of titania thin films was prepared by chemical bath deposition (CBD) of TiCl 3 on indium tin oxside (ITO) glass at room temperature, followed by calcinations at 500°C for 4 hours. The effect of cyclic deposition on phase composition, microstructure and electrical resistivity of TiO 2 thin films was characterised using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and four-point probe respectively. Results showed that TiO 2 films produced by single deposition cycle were amorphous. In contrast, those produced by 5 and 6 deposition cycles were partly amorphous and partly crystalline with the formation of rutile. Both the film thickness and electrical resistivity increased with an increase in the number of deposition cycles.

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Abstract:A misfit layer sulfide (BiS) 1.2 (TiS 2 ) 2 with a natural superlattice structure has been shown to be a promising thermoelectric material, but its high carrier concentration should be reduced so as to further optimize the thermoelectric performance. However, ordinary acceptor doping has not succeeded because of the non-parabolic band structure. In this paper, we have successfully doped chromium ions into the Ti sites, which can maintain or even enhance the high effective mass of electrons so as to effectively improve ZT value. X-ray diffraction analysis, coupled with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, shows that chromium has been substituted into titanium sites in TiS 2 layers and confirms its ionic state. The chromium doping has successfully reduced the carrier concentration with the subsequent reduction of electrical conductivity. Unlike other acceptor dopants (alkaline earth metals), chromium also enhances Seebeck coefficient and the effective mass, which can possibly be attributed to the formation of additional resonant states near Fermi level. Though the power factor does not improve, the significant reduction in the electronic part of the thermal conductivity leads to a measurable improvement in ZT.

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A superhydrophobic cotton textile with high antibacterial properties has been fabricated. The cotton textile was coated through the in situ growth of ZnO-SiO 2 nanoparticles in presence of chitosan as the template agent via a hydrothermal process at 95 C. This process was followed by the coating of additional layers of hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMS). The obtained cotton textile showed antibacterial property against Staphylococcus epidermis and Escherichia coli with inhibition zones up to 18.26 and 8.48 mm, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the coating had a rough surface, which was attributed to the distribution of ZnO-SiO 2 nanorods of hexagonal shape. This rough surface creates a superhydrophobic layer that repels the bacteria, as proven by the large water contact angle of approximately 150 . Nevertheless, the HDTMS layers prolong the durability of hydrophobicity for up to 3 h. K E Y W O R D S antibacterial textile, E. coli, hydrophobic textile, Staphylococcus epidermis, ZnO-SiO 2