Deposition of Ag doped TiO2 on cotton fabric for wash durable UV protective and antibacterial properties at very low silver concentration

Cotton fabric with wash durable UV protective and effective antibacterial properties was developed in this work. In this work, TiO 2 was deposited on cotton fabric by a sol gel process using titanium tetra iso-propoxide as the precursor. In the initial stage of its deposition, TiO 2 is amorphous in nature which has to be given a prolonged hydrothermal treatment for development of anatase crystalline form and enhanced catalytic activity. As a novelty, a small amount of silver precursor was added during the hydrothermal stage. It was found that TiO 2 was doped with silver during hydrothermal stage with very low silver concentration. The concentration of silver was low enough ( 60). However, the UPF increased dramatically when TiO 2 was doped with silver.