The effects of particle size, morphology and performance of antibacterial nanocomposites on sustainable lyocell fabrics coated by the combined pad-dry-cure and sol-gel methods.

The demand for safe, comfortable and sustainable materials in antibacterial textile production has led to the research of the new alternative materials and methods. This study focuses on the use of lyocell that is one of the promising regenerated cellulosic fiber as an alternative material and the application of the silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles by the combined pad-dry-cure and sol-gel methods to obtain durable performance. In addition, the dependence of the antibacterial properties of the coatings on the particle size and morphology of the nanocomposites and the performance of zinc oxide nanoparticles in the nanocomposite form with silver nanoparticles on lyocell fabrics have been comparatively and comprehensively investigated. For this aim, antibacterial activity, UV protection factor and physical properties (tensile strength, elongation at break, bending length and rigidity, whiteness and yellowness, air permeability, thickness, abrasion) were determined and characterization analyses like XRD, SEM, EDX and FTIR were carried out. Antibacterial activity was high and durable in all applications. UV protection showed an increase especially in the zinc oxide applications. Some physical properties significantly changed. As a result, the study highlighted the promising potential of the lyocell fabrics coated by silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles for antibacterial textile production.