Efficacy of Sericin Plant Nanoparticles on Surface Modified Cotton and Polyester Cotton Blend

Abstract

MAHARANA PRATAP UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND newlineTECHNOLOGY, UDAIPUR, RAJASTHAN newlineCOLLEGE OF COMMUNITY AND APPLIED SCIENCES newlineDepartment of Textiles and Apparel Designing newlinePh.D. Thesis 2023 newlineTitle: Efficacy of Sericin-Plant Nanoparticles on Surface Modified Cotton and newlinePolyester Cotton Blend newlineABSTRACT newlineScientists and the textile industry have focused on nano finishing of textile newlinematerials with several metal and metal oxide particles to confer multifunctional newlineproperties. Of late, green approaches in nanoparticle synthesis have garnered a lot of newlineattention chiefly because of their low toxicity, eco-friendly nature, biocompatibility, newlineand cost-effectiveness. Traditionally chemical reducing agents have been used in the newlinesynthesis of nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles were the most studied for textile newlineapplications and overused, leading to the development of bacterial resistance and newlineincreased reports of safety and detrimental effects on the environment. In light of the newlineabove, the present research has been planned to synthesize copper nanoparticles, newlinemodify the surface of cotton and polyester blends with microwave irradiation, coat the newlinefabrics with synthesized CuNPs, and assess the wash durability of the antibacterial newlinefinish as well as study the comfort properties newlineThe novelty of the present research lies in using two green reducing agents one newlinefrom animal origin - sericin extracted from Bombyx mori cocoons and the other from newlineplant origin - methanolic leaf extracts of five plants viz. Annona squamosa, Citrus newlinelimon, Moringa oleifera, Psidium guajava, Vitex negundo. Qualitative and quantitative newlineestimation of phytochemicals of the aqueous, methanol, and ethanol leaf extracts was newlineassessed, to know the presence of phytochemicals. Five copper nanoparticles were newlinesynthesized using the polyol synthesis method, which was assessed for antibacterial newlineactivity in liquid and dry forms. Out of the five, two nanoparticles were chosen based newlineon the zone of inhibition obtained against S.aureus and E.coli. All the nanoparticles newlinewere characterized by