Abstract
A one pot ultrasonic method was adopted for biosynthesis of Cu
2
O/TiO
2
nanocomposite and simultaneously coating over dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma processed cotton fabric. In this non-toxic and eco-friendly synthesis approach,
Aloe Vera
leave extract was used as a reducing agent for the synthesis of Cu
2
O/TiO
2
nanocomposite. According to the applied statistical design, the cotton fabric was pretreated with atmospheric pressure DBD plasma for various exposure periods. DBD exposure induced polar functional groups on the fabric surface, which showed more adhesion for coating material. The plasma exposure time, salt ratio and extract amount were optimized by using a complete composite design (CCD) in Minitab statistical package. It was revealed that optimized combination of certain parameters increased the self-cleaning activity of the coated fabric. The results confirmed the formation of Cu
2
O/TiO
2
nanocomposite from
Aloe Vera
extract having both spherical and rod shapes with anatase phase of TiO
2
and fcc structure of Cu
2
O. The crystallite size was found to be around 22 nm. The self-cleaning activity of Cu
2
O/TiO
2
-coated samples was ascertained by measuring color difference (ΔRGB) in MATLAB software. Washing fastness and tensile strength of optimized and control samples were also studied to test the efficiency of DBD plasma processing and self-cleaning of the coated cotton fabric.