Enabling Antibacterial Coating via Bioinspired Mineralization of Nanostructured ZnO on Fabrics under Mild Conditions

Abstract

Herein, we present an environmentally benign method capable of mineralization and deposition of nanomaterials to introduce antibacterial functionalities into cotton fabrics under mild conditions. Similar to the way in which many naturally occurring biominerals evolve around the living organism under ambient conditions, this technique enables flexible substrates like the cotton fabric to be coated with inorganic-based functional materials. Specifically, our strategy involves the use of long-chain polyamines known to be responsible in certain biomineralization processes, to nucleate, organize, and deposit nanostructured ZnO on cotton bandage in an aqueous solution under mild conditions of room temperature and neutral pH. The ZnO-coated cotton bandages as characterized by SEM, confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy, XRD, UV-DRS, and fluorescence microscopy demonstrate the importance of polyamine in generating a stable and uniform coating of spindle-shaped ZnO particles on individual threads of the fabric. As the coating process requires only mild conditions, it avoids any adverse effect on the thermal and mechanical properties of the substrate. Furthermore, the ZnO particles on cotton fabric show efficient antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negetive bacteria. Therefore, the developed polyamine mediated bioinspired coating method provides not only a facile and "green" synthesis for coating on flexible substrate but also the fabrication of antibacterial enabled materials for healthcare applications.

Green synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activities of zinc oxide nanoparticles from the leaf extract of Azadirachta indica (L.)

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Sonochemical synthesis, structural inspection and semiconductor behavior of three new nano sized Cu(II), Co(II) and Ni(II) chelates based on tri‐dentate NOO imine ligand as precursors for metal oxides

“…Besides, transition metal oxides have many unique properties, such as high work function, semiconducting and good transparency, that are all very important for electrode interlayers and/or as charge generation/recombination matters. Among these characteristics, the high work function is the main reason for efficient operation of transition metal oxides based functional layers …”

Coliform bacteria, fabrics, and the environment

“…5 Zinc oxideecoated cotton bandages demonstrated reduced viability for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus compared with uncoated bandages. 6 Silica-silver core-shell particles embedded within cotton fabrics effectively reduced the viability of E coli. 7 Cotton fabrics grafted with silver nanoparticles reduced the number of S aureus and E coli by 99%.…”