Multifunctional Finishing of Ramie Fabric Using Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles

A kind of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO2) product was employed for the multifunctional finishing of ramie fabric. A series of working baths with varying content of nano-TiO2 were prepared and the ramie fabrics were coated with nano- nano-TiO2 via a dip-pad-dry process. In order to enhance the washing durability, the ramie fabrics were pretreated by citric acid. It was proved that ramie fabrics coated with nano-TiO2 gave rise to prominent photocatalytic degradation of formaldehyde. The ramie fabrics coated with nano-TiO2 were proved to exhibit good antibacterial property. When the working bath contained 0.8 g/L nano-TiO2 the percentage of bacteria reduction approached to 100%. The ramie fabrics loaded with nano-TiO2 also showed excellent UV protective property when the content of nano-TiO2 increased to 0.8 g/L. The pretreatment of fabric by citric acid could effectively improve the washing durability of the TiO2¬ coated ramie fabrics.