The Journal of The Textile Institute

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Functional finishing of cotton fabrics using

graphene oxide nanosheets decorated with
titanium dioxide nanoparticles

Loghman Karimi, Mohammad Esmail Yazdanshenas, Ramin Khajavi,

Abosaeed Rashidi & Mohammad Mirjalili

To cite this article: Loghman Karimi, Mohammad Esmail Yazdanshenas, Ramin Khajavi,
Abosaeed Rashidi & Mohammad Mirjalili (2015): Functional finishing of cotton fabrics using
graphene oxide nanosheets decorated with titanium dioxide nanoparticles, The Journal of The
Textile Institute, DOI: 10.1080/00405000.2015.1093311

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405000.2015.1093311

Published online: 01 Oct 2015.

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 The Journal of The Textile Institute, 2015
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405000.2015.1093311

Functional finishing of cotton fabrics using graphene oxide nanosheets decorated with
titanium dioxide nanoparticles
Loghman Karimia* , Mohammad Esmail Yazdanshenasb, Ramin Khajavic , Abosaeed Rashidia and
Mohammad Mirjalilib
a
Department of Textile Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran; bDepartment of Textile
Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Yazd Branch, Yazd, Iran; cDepartment of Textile Engineering, Islamic Azad University, South
Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
(Received 18 March 2015; accepted 12 August 2015)

This study examined an innovative approach for imparting multi-functional properties, i.e. self-cleaning, electrical
Downloaded by [University of Lethbridge] at 05:28 07 October 2015

conductivity, ultraviolet (UV) blocking as well as antimicrobial properties onto cotton fabric. Graphene oxide/TiO2
nanocomposites were successfully prepared, by a simple method of mixing and sonication, and used for multi-functional
treatment of cotton fabrics by dip-drying technique. The physicochemical properties of the prepared samples were
characterized with field emission scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Self-cleaning performance, electrical resistance, antimicrobial properties, and UV
blocking activity of treated fabrics were also assessed. The coated cotton fabrics with graphene oxide/TiO2
nanocomposite showed excellent photocatalytic self-cleaning activity measured by degradation of methylene blue in
aqueous solution under sunlight irradiation. Results showed that the electrical conductivity of the graphene oxide/
titanium dioxide nanocomposite-coated fabrics was improved significantly after sunlight irradiation. Moreover, the
nanocomposite finished cotton fabric demonstrated proper antimicrobial properties and UV blocking activity.
Keywords: graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite; cotton; self-cleaning; electrical conductivity; antimicrobial; UV
blocking

Introduction antibacterial/antifungal properties without cytotoxicity

An innovative strategy for functional finishing of textile
fabrics is nanocoating. Nowadays, the variety of
nanomaterials used for textile finishing includes
nanophotocatalysts like TiO2 (Karimi, Mirjalili,
Yazdanshenas, & Nazari, 2010; Mirjalili, Karimi, &
Barari-tari, 2015), ZnO (Becheri, Dürr, Lo Nostro,
& Baglioni, 2008; Li et al., 2014), SrTiO3 (Zohoori &
Karimi, 2013; Zohoori, Karimi, & Nazari, 2014), and
ZrO2 (Gashti & Almasian, 2013). Among them, nano-
TiO2 applications has great promise due to its fascinating
properties, such as optical and electronic properties,
abilities to purify pollutions, chemical stability, and
nontoxicity (Fujishima, Zhang, & Tryk, 2008; Ochiai &
Fujishima, 2012). Incorporation of textiles with TiO2
nanoparticles created many new and improved properties.
For instance, Montazer and Seifollahzadeh (2011)
produced self-cleaning, antibacterial, and ultraviolet (UV)
protection polyester/wool fabrics using nano-TiO2. Along
the same lines, Khajavi and Berendjchi (2014) obtained
self-cleaning cotton fabrics through applying the
nanotitanium dioxide particles immobilized by carboxylic
acids. Moreover, a sonochemical coating of wool with
TiO2 nanoparticles with self-cleaning, hydrophilicity,
was reported by Behzadnia, Montazer, Rashidi, and Rad
(2014a, 2014b). Also, some studies have focused on
imparting flame retardency to textiles by employing
nanotitanium dioxide (Hashemikia & Montazer, 2012;
Lessan, Montazer, & Moghadam, 2011).
The incessant progress of nanotechnology in material
science has opened new pathways for developing new
functional materials. Graphene, one-atom-thick planar
sheets of sp2-bonded carbon atoms that are densely
packed into a 2-D honeycomb crystal lattice, has become
one of the most attractive materials due its unique
chemical and physical properties as well as its diverse
potential applications (Rao, Sood, Subrahmanyam, &
Govindaraj, 2009; Soldano, Mahmood, & Dujardin,
2010). Moreover, graphene oxide, an atomic sheet of
graphite with a wide range of functional groups (epoxy,
hydroxyl, and carboxyl), is one of the most important
derivatives of graphene (Dreyer, Park, Bielawski, &
Ruoff, 2010; Zhu et al., 2010). Recently, some studies
have focused on the functional finishing of textiles using
graphene or graphene oxide. For example, some
researchers coated textiles with graphene and proved
significant electrical conductivity (Fugetsu, Sano, Yu,

*Corresponding author. Email: l.karimi@srbiau.ac.ir

© 2015 The Textile Institute

 2 L. Karimi et al.
Mori, & Tanaka, 2010; Javed, Galib, Yang, Chen, &
Wang, 2014; Molina, Fernández, del Río, Bonastre, &
Cases, 2013; Molina, Fernández, Inés, et al., 2013;
Shateri-Khalilabad & Yazdanshenas, 2013; Woltornist
et al., 2015). Qu et al. (2014) produced UV blocking
cotton fabric using graphene. Zhao et al. (2013) obtained
antimicrobial cotton through applying the graphene
oxide. Kabiri and Namazi (2014) improved the
mechanical properties of cellulose acetate films through
application of graphene oxide. Pant et al. (2013)
demonstrated the hydrothermal reduction of graphene
oxide sheets on graphene oxide/nylon-6 composite mat to
increase the electrical conductivity of nylon-6 nanofibers.
One obvious way to exploit the properties of either
graphene or nanotitanium dioxide is to combine them.
This allows the properties of each constituent to be
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conserved or modified. The poor solubility of graphene
in water or polar organic solvents makes it difficult to
deposit nanoparticles on its surface. The presence of
oxygen-containing functional groups in graphene oxide
makes it as excellent supporters to anchor TiO2
nanocrystals in liquid phase (Cong et al., 2013; Jiang
et al., 2011).
There has been some reports on the coating of
carbonaceous-TiO2 nanocomposites like graphene/TiO2
(Karimi, Yazdanshenas, Khajavi, Rashidi, & Mirjalili,
2014, 2015), carbon black/TiO2 (Chimeh, Montazer, &
Rashidi, 2013), and carbon nanotube/TiO2 (Karimi,
Zohoori, & Amini, 2014; Lee, Kim, & Park, 2014) onto
textile fabrics. However, the coating of graphene oxide/
TiO2 nanocomposite on cotton fabrics has not been
reported yet. In this study, the graphene oxide/TiO2
nanocomposites were coated on the surface of cotton
fabrics by a dip-dry process. The photocatalytic self-
cleaning performance, antimicrobial activity, electrical
conductivity, and UV blocking property of the coated
fabrics, and the synergism effect of graphene oxide and
titanium dioxide nanoparticles on these properties
and other characterization of the fabric were investigated
and are discussed in detail.
Materials and methods
Materials
The bleached plain weave 100% cotton fabric with warp
and weft yarn density of 30 and 28 yarn/cm,
respectively, and the fabric weight of 102 g/m2 was
used. Graphite powder (particle size <20 μm) and
nanotitanium dioxide (p25) were provided by Sigma
Aldrich and Degussa Company, respectively. Hydrogen
peroxide (H2O2, 30%), sulfuric acid (H2SO4, 98%),
potassium permanganate (KMnO4), and hydrochloric
acid (HCl, 37%) were purchased from Merck. Methylene
blue (CI 52015) was provided by Uhao Co. (China).
Instruments
FE-SEM and X-ray mapping images and EDS patterns
were established by MIRA3-TESCAN, field emission
scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) (Czech
Republic). The standard procedure was followed, in
which samples for SEM and EDS analyses were coated
with a gold layer before tests to ensure sufficient
electrical conductivity and to prevent charging effects.
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of
graphene oxide and graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite
were obtained on a Phillips EM208 electron microscope,
Czech Republic. The TEM was operated in bright field
mode with an acceleration voltage of 200 kV.
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was performed
using a Bruker D8 Discover X-ray Diffractometer,
Germany. The patterns were recorded in the diffraction
range of 2θ from angle of 5˚ to 90˚ with a scanning
speed of 2˚/min at 2θ step of 0.040˚. Cu Kα radiation
(λ = 1.540 Å) with detector scan mode operating at
40 kV and 30 mA was used to investigate changes in
crystalline.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data were
recorded using an X-ray 8025-BesTec XPS system
(Germany) with an Al Ka X-ray source
(hν = 1486.6 eV). Electrical surface resistivity of the
fabrics was determined based on American Association
of Textile Chemist and Colorists (AATCC) test method
76-2005 by means of the Hioki Digital HiTester
Multimeter, model 3256-50, Japan. UV-blocking
activities of the fabrics were recorded using Perkin-
Elmer Lambda 35 UV–vis spectrophotometer.
Synthesis of graphene oxide
Graphene oxide was synthesized by a modified
Hummers method (Hummers & Offeman, 1958) from
natural graphite as previously reported (Karimi,
Yazdanshenas, et al., 2014) by our team. The obtained
graphene oxide was mixed with water, and then the
dispersion was sonicated in an ultrasonic bath
(WiseClean, 50–60 Hz) for 60 min. The final sonicated
dispersion was centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 30 min and
the nonexfoliated graphite oxide removed, resulting in a
pure graphene oxide aqueous dispersion. Finally, the
graphene oxide powder was obtained by freeze-drying.
A normal drying process would produce aggregated
graphene oxide layers.
Graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite coating on cotton
Graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposites were prepared by
simple mixing and sonication. Different amounts of
graphene oxide and TiO2 were sonicated for 60 min at
50 °C. The cotton fabrics were immersed into this
 The Journal of The Textile Institute
aqueous suspension and heated for 1 h at 80 °C. Then,
for fixation of graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposites, the
fabric was kept in an oven at 100 °C for 15 min.
Different amounts of graphene oxide (0.04, 0.08, 0.12,
0.2, and 0.4 wt.%) and TiO2 (0.1, 0.5, and 1 wt.%) were
tested. The exact formation and corresponding number
for each sample examined in this study are summarized
in Table 1.
Photo-activity efficiency under sunlight irradiation
The photocatalytic activities of treated fabrics were
evaluated by decomposition of the methylene blue under
sunlight irradiation in water. The concentration of dye in
the solution was calculated by Varian Cary 300 UV–vis
spectrophotometer using calibration curve. A computer
program determines absorbance of dye solution at
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maximum wavelength of methylene blue – 663 nm. The
first step was the preparation of dye solution by distilled
water (10 mg/L). Then, the cotton samples (4 × 6 cm2)
were added into 100 mL of the dye solution. Firstly, the
solution mixture was stirred for 15 min without
irradiation in order to get equilibrium of dye adsorption.
Then the solution was irradiated with sunlight (Tehran,
Iran) irradiation for four consecutive days. The dye
solution was continuously stirred with a rate of 200 rpm
and the real dye solution pH. After irradiation, the
decolorization and photocatalytic degradation efficiency
have been calculated as:
Table 1. Formulations and numbers of samples investigated in this study.
Nanomaterials (wt.%)
Sample number Graphene oxide (%)
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0.04
6 0.04
7 0.04
8 0.04
9 0.08
10 0.08
11 0.08
12 0.08
13 0.12
14 0.12
15 0.12
16 0.12
17 0.2
18 0.2
19 0.2
20 0.2
21 0.4
22 0.4
23 0.4
24 0.4
3
Efficiencyð%Þ ¼ ðC 0  C e Þ=C 0  100; (1)
where C0 and Ce correspond to the initial and final
concentration of dye before and after photo-irradiation.
In this equation, E% show the dye photocatalyst
degradation percent (Karimi, Zohoori, & Yazdanshenas,
2014).
Microbiological tests
The antimicrobial activity of the samples was evaluated
against Escherichia coli (E. coli, ATCC 25922, Gram-
negative bacterium) and Staphylococcus aureus (S.
aureus, ATCC 25923, Gram-positive bacterium) using
two different methods, i.e. agar diffusion plate method
(qualitative method) and suspension method (quantitative
method).
The agar diffusion plate method was carried out
according to ISO 20645:2004 (E). In this method,
bacterial cells were cultured on a plate containing Triptic
soy broth culture medium from Merck (Germany).
Circular samples of fabric with 10-mm diameter were
prepared and placed on the plate. The samples were
incubated for 24 h in an oven at 37 °C. Subsequently,
the samples were studied visually, and the presence of
bacteria was observed underneath as well as around the
fabric.
The suspension tests were performed according to an
AATCC test method 100-2004. This method is specially
E%
TiO2 (%) Under sunlight
0 4.2
0.1 10.20
0.5 31.55
1 45.55
0 8.38
0.1 17.12
0.5 55.59
1 66.47
0 10.94
0.1 22.44
0.5 64.23
1 77.23
0 12.32
0.1 25.43
0.5 70.14
1 83.43
0 13.51
0.1 30.11
0.5 75.02
1 86.12
0 16.83
0.1 33.77
0.5 79.85
1 89.87
 4 L. Karimi et al.
designed for specimens treated with nonreleasing
antibacterial agents under dynamic contact conditions.
Antimicrobial activity was expressed in terms of the
percentage reduction of the micro-organisms and
calculated as:
Percentage reduction of microorganisms ðRÞ%
¼ ðA  BÞ=A  100; (2)
where A and B are the number of micro-organisms
colonies on untreated and treated fabrics, respectively.
There was 3.4 × 105 colony forming units (cfu) of
bacteria in the primary inoculum. Saline solution 8.5 g/L
sodium chloride to 1000 ml distilled water was used as
the neutralizing solution. Serial dilution of 10–10,000
was made for incubation on agar plate. Tryptic soy agar
(Merck, Germany) was applied as the agar.
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Results and discussion
Morphological and spectral studies
The nano-TiO2 anchored graphene oxide nanosheets
show different colors in the photographic images
(Figure 1(A)–(G)). When graphene oxide was applied on
the titanium dioxide suspension, the bright white color
of the nanoparticle suspension turned into brown, which
showed the surface coating of the graphene oxide
nanosheets by titanium dioxide nanoparticles. Moreover,
the graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite suspensions
with 0.4% (wt.) graphene oxide show no significant
precipitation for weeks. The picture shown in
Figure 1(F) displays a corresponding suspension after
more than a week indicating the stability of the prepared
suspension and the absence of any precipitation. Thus,
the graphene oxide sheets act as excellent supporters and
stabilizers for the TiO2 nanoparticles.
To study the possible interactions between TiO2 and
graphene oxide, XPS was carried out. From the XPS
spectrum of Ti core level (shown in Figure 1(H)), two
peaks are detected and centered at ~459 and ~465 eV,
corresponding to Ti 2p3/2 and Ti 2p1/2 of the Ti4+
chemical state, respectively. It demonstrates the presence
of the normal state of TiO2 in the prepared graphene
oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite. In addition, no peaks relating
to formation of Ti–C and or Ti–O–C bonds can be
detected. Therefore, the possible mechanism of
interaction between TiO2 nanoparticles and graphene
oxide sheets can be through physisorption, electrostatic
binding or through hydrogen bonding (Jiang et al., 2011;
Ryong, Parvez, & Chhowalla, 2009).
The morphologies of graphene oxide and graphene
oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite were investigated by TEM
(Figure 2). TEM image of graphene oxide displays
typical flake-like shapes and crumpled structure. In
graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite (Figure 2(B)),
graphene oxide is decorated with TiO2 nanoparticles
densely. It clearly reveals the good contact between TiO2
nanoparticles and graphene oxide nanosheets.
In order to study the morphology of treated and
untreated cotton samples, a FE-SEM was used. The
FE-SEM images of raw cotton (A), cotton fabric treated
with nano-TiO2 (B), cotton fabric treated with graphene
oxide (C), and cotton fabric treated with graphene oxide/
TiO2 nanocomposite (D and E) are illustrated in
Figure 3. It is thoroughly possible to recognize the
titanium dioxide nanoparticles on the surface of cotton
fabric treated with nano-TiO2via comparing Figure 3(B)
with Figure 3(A). Also, the graphene oxide-coated cotton
surface (Figure 3(C)) displayed some corrugations, while
the surface of the raw cotton fabric was clean and
smooth. It clearly reveals the presence of graphene oxide
sheets on the surface. In contrast, the surface images of
treated sample with graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite
showed lower uniform distribution of nano-TiO2
comparing with the nano-TiO2-coated cotton, which is
due to the aggregation of titanium dioxide nanoparticles
on graphene oxide sheets (Figure 3(E)).
Figure 4(A) shows the EDS spectrum of treated
cotton with graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite. The
results show the presence of C, O, and Ti in the sample,
which further demonstrated the successful formation of
graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite on the cotton
surface. As the treated sample was coated by gold layer
before FE-SEM observation, Au peaks are also included
in the spectrum. The distribution of C, O, and Ti
elements in treated cotton with graphene oxide/TiO2
nanocomposite was studied by the elemental mapping.
As shown in Figure 4(B), the distribution of titanium
atoms for coated cotton with graphene oxide/TiO2
nanocomposite is uniform.
The XRD patterns of the raw and treated cotton
fabric using graphene oxide and graphene oxide/TiO2
nanocomposite are shown in Figure 5. In the patterns,
two major peaks can be observed around 2θ = 15° and
22°, corresponding to the typical profile of cellulose
which is considered as a main substrate. In the case of
graphene oxide/titanium dioxide nanocomposite-coated
cotton, anatase phase main peaks are seen around
2θ = 25.3˚, 38.2˚, and 82.3˚, and in 2θ = 28.2˚, 44.4˚,
64.9˚, and 78.1˚ the peaks of rutile structure of TiO2
exist. For treated cotton with graphene oxide and
graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite, no peak from the
graphene oxide nanosheets (at 2θ = 10.5˚) can be
detected, indicating that graphene oxide nanosheets are
exfoliated and uniformly coated on cotton surface.
Photo-activity efficiency
Photocatalytic activities of as-prepared samples were
evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of methylene
 The Journal of The Textile Institute 5
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Figure 1. Photographs of aqueous dispersions of titanium dioxide, graphene oxide, and graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite taken a
week after synthesis. (A) 1% wt. P25; (B) 1% wt. P25/0.04% wt. graphene oxide; (C) 1% wt. P25/0.08% wt. graphene oxide; (D)
1% wt. P25/0.12% wt. graphene oxide; (E) 1% wt. P25/0.2% wt. graphene oxide; (F) 1% wt. P25/0.4% wt. graphene oxide; (G)
0.4% wt. graphene oxide; (H) Ti 2p core level XPS spectra of graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite.

Figure 2. TEM images (at 100 kX of magnification) of: (A) graphene oxide and (B) graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite.
 6 L. Karimi et al.
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Figure 3. FE-SEM images of various cotton samples: (A) raw, (B) treated with TiO2, (C) treated with graphene oxide and (D, E)
treated with graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite. Note the different magnifications for (A) 2 kX, (B) 7 kX, (C) 10.7 kX, (D) 3.5 kX,
and (E) 100 kX.

Figure 4. EDS spectrum (A) and X-ray mapping images (B) of treated cotton fabric with graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite.
 The Journal of The Textile Institute
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Figure 5. XRD patterns of raw and treated cotton fabrics.
blue under sunlight irradiation. The data in Table 1 show
the photo-activity efficiency of the treated cotton fabrics
with various graphene oxide and nano-TiO2
concentrations. It can be observed that the methylene
blue concentration change was negligible during
irradiations in contact with raw cotton fabric (sample 1).
Loading of graphene oxide in cotton fabric (sample 5, 9,
13, 17, and 21) led to decrease in methylene blue
concentration due to adsorption of methylene blue by
graphene oxide. Because of similar conjugated aromatic
cycles, the interaction of π-conjugated and the ion–
dipole interactions between graphene oxide and
7
methylene blue will take place, which leads to the
adsorption of methylene blue by graphene oxide sheets
(Liu et al., 2010). In other words, the blank cotton and
the graphene oxide-coated samples show no self-cleaning
property under sunlight irradiation. Due to good
photocatalytic activity of nano-TiO2, coating cotton
fabric with nanotitanium dioxide (samples 2–4) led to a
more significant decrease in methylene blue
concentration than either cotton alone or graphene
oxide–cotton. When the photocatalyst is illuminated by a
light with energy higher than its band gap energy,
electron–hole pairs diffuse out to the surface of the
 8 L. Karimi et al.
photocatalyst. The created negative electrons and oxygen
combine into O 2 , and the positive electric holes and
water generate hydroxyl radicals. This highly active
oxygen species can oxidize organic pollutants. Thus,
nanotitanium dioxide can decompose common organic
matters, dye molecules, bacterial cell membrane, etc.
(Zohoori, Karimi, & Ayaziyazdi, 2014).
The results acquired indicate that adding graphene
oxide to titanium dioxide nanoparticles had tangible
effect on photocatalytic activity of treated cotton fabrics
and its photo-activity efficiency was higher than nano-
TiO2-coated cotton fabrics. It is because graphene oxide
in graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite promotes the
separation of electron–hole pairs and extends the life of
electrons (Sha et al., 2014). Also, the adsorption of dye
molecules is helpful for the increase in photocatalytic
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activity. Figure 6 showed that by increasing graphene
oxide concentration, degradation of dye was increased. It
could be a result of the high surface area of graphene
oxide, which may favor the absorption of methylene
blue on the photocatalyst surface (Cong et al., 2013).
Furthermore, the extended light absorption ability of
graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite improves the
photocatalystic performance (Morales-Torres, Pastrana-
Martínez, Figueiredo, Faria, & Silva, 2013).
Electrical conductivity after photocatalytic reduction
The electrical resistance variations of treated cotton
samples with graphene oxide and graphene oxide/TiO2
nanocomposites before and after sunlight irradiation are
Figure 6. Comparative diagram of photocatalytic performance results of the cotton samples.
presented in Table 2. The graphene oxide treated cotton
fabrics (sample 17 and 21) and graphene oxide/TiO2
treated cotton fabrics (sample 19, 20, 23, and 24) were
not electroconductive. After sunlight irradiation, the
electrical resistance of the graphene oxide/TiO2 treated
samples was reduced, in other words, its electrical
conductivity increased. When cotton treated with
graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite, the raw cotton
fabric changed its color from white to brown due to the
brownish color of the graphene oxide embedded on the
surface. After sunlight irradiation of the treated cotton
fabric, color of the fabric changed from brown to gray,
which was confirmed by the reduction of oxygen
functional groups from the graphene oxide. Also, it was
observed that as the time of irradiation increased the
electrical resistance decreases significantly, which is due
to more and more reduction of the functional groups
from the graphene oxide. When titanium dioxide
nanoparticles are exposed to sunlight irradiation,
electron–hole pairs diffuse out to the surface of the TiO2.
The photo-induced electrons interact with graphene
oxide sheets in order to reduce oxygen functional groups
(Akhavan & Ghaderi, 2009).
The reduction of the oxygen-containing groups in
graphene oxide by titanium dioxide nanoparticles after
sunlight irradiation was studied by XPS. Figure 7 shows
the XPS spectra for C 1s core level of the graphene
oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite-coated cotton fabrics (sample
24) before and after three days sunlight irradiation.
Before sunlight irradiation, deconvolution results in four
peaks at 284.8 (C–C), 286.1 (C–OH), 287.3 (C–O and
 The Journal of The Textile Institute 9

Table 2. Electrical resistance of the treated cotton fabrics.

Electrical resistance before and after sunlight irradiation ± SD

Sample number Before irradiation One day Two days Three days
Sample 17 2 GΩ/square ± 0.1 1 GΩ/square ± 0.1 1 GΩ/square ± 0.1 1 GΩ/square ± 0.1
Sample 19 2 GΩ/square ± 0.1 13.5 MΩ/square ± 1 11.4 MΩ/square ± 1 10.7 MΩ/square ± 1
Sample 20 2 GΩ/square ± 0.1 6.9 MΩ/square ± 1 4.7 MΩ/square ± 1 4.2 MΩ/square ± 1
Sample 21 2 GΩ/square ± 0.1 1 GΩ/square ± 0.1 1 GΩ/square ± 0.1 1 GΩ/square ± 0.1
Sample 23 2 GΩ/square ± 0.1 6.5 MΩ/square ± 1 4.0 MΩ/square ± 1 3.2 MΩ/square ± 1
Sample 24 2 GΩ/square ± 0.1 3.6 MΩ/square ± 1 0.1 MΩ/square ± 1 303 KΩ/square ± 5
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Figure 7. C 1s core level XPS spectra for the graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite-coated cotton fabrics before (A) and after (B)
sunlight irradiation.

C=O bonds), and 288.9 eV (O=C–OH). While after
sunlight irradiation, most of the C–O and C=O peaks are
greatly weakened. It obviously exhibits a decreased
intensity for peaks corresponding to oxygen functional
groups, indicating graphene oxide was effectively
reduced.
Antimicrobial performance
Antimicrobial activity of the cotton samples was
evaluated against both Gram-positive (S. aureus) and
Gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria. The S. aureus
bacterium is a pathogenic micro-organism causing many
diseases such as toxic shock, purulence, abscess, fibrin
coagulation, and endocarditic. Moreover, it is resistant to
common antimicrobial agents. Furthermore, E. coli
bacterium which causes urinary tract and wound
infections is a popular test organism (Montazer,
Behzadnia, Pakdel, Rahimi, & Moghadam, 2011).
The results of the qualitative test are shown in
Figure 8. For graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite
treated samples (sample 20) tested no growth is observed
where the samples were in contact with the culture
media, in contrast to the raw cotton sample where
bacterial growth seems unrestricted. However, no clear
zone of inhibition was found around the composite
treated fabric due to good fixation of graphene oxide/
TiO2 nanocomposite on the fibers, which prevents its
diffusion into the agar.
For a quantitative determination of the samples’
antimicrobial effect, the results of the second test method
are summarized in Table 3. As expected, no reduction of
the bacteria was found on the raw cotton fabric.
Moreover, the graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite
treated samples exhibit a strong antimicrobial activity
against both S. aureus and E. coli bacteria as can be
seen in Figure 9. Therefore, adding graphene oxide to
nano-TiO2 particles can also facilitate effective bacterial
decomposition by increasing the contact between the
catalyst nanoparticles and the bacteria. This could be a
result of the high surface area of graphene oxide.
UV blocking
The UV transmittance spectra of raw cotton fabric and
treated cotton fabric with graphene oxide/TiO2
nanocomposite (in the range of 280–400 nm) were
illustrated in Figure 10. The upper line (red) is the UV
transmittance spectrum of the raw cotton sample
demonstrating that high percentage of the UV light can
penetrate into the fabric. The graphene oxide/TiO2
nanocomposite treated cotton fabric had much lower UV
 10 L. Karimi et al.

Figure 8. Antimicrobial activities of the fabrics placed on the agar plate inoculated with (A) S. aureus and (B) E. coli: (top) the
TiO2-coated cotton, (right) the raw cotton, (left) the graphene oxide-coated cotton, and (bottom) the graphene oxide/TiO2-coated
cotton.
Downloaded by [University of Lethbridge] at 05:28 07 October 2015

Table 3. Antimicrobial properties of treated fabrics according to AATCC 100-2004 test method.

Antimicrobial activity (%)

Samples Staphylococcus aureus Escherichia coli
Raw cotton (sample 1) 0 0
TiO2-coated cotton (sample 4) 22 32
Graphene oxide-coated cotton (sample 17) 0 12
Graphene oxide/TiO2-coated cotton (sample 20) 99 99

Sample Staphylococcus aureus Escherichia coli

Raw cotton

Graphene oxide/TiO 2 coated

cotton

Figure 9. The antimicrobial efficiency of raw cotton and cotton treated with graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite (sample 20).

transmittance compared to the raw cotton fabric. property due to the synergetic UV absorption of titanium
Consequently, the treated cotton fabrics with graphene dioxide and graphene oxide (Kim & Min, 2013; Qu
oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite have good UV blocking et al., 2014).
 The Journal of The Textile Institute
Figure 10. UV transmittance spectra of raw cotton fabric and
treated cotton fabric with graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite
(sample 24).
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Conclusions
As showed, a simple method based on cotton
fabric coated with graphene oxide/titanium dioxide
nanocomposite was developed to produce multi-
functional cellulose textiles. Coating graphene oxide/
titanium dioxide nanocomposite on the cotton fabrics
created functional characteristics including photocatalytic
self-cleaning, antimicrobial, electrical conductivity, and
UV blocking. All properties of the treated cotton with
graphene oxide/titanium dioxide nanocomposite were
superior compared to the treated cotton with nano-TiO2
alone. Through XRD patterns, XPS spectra, FE-SEM
and TEM images and EDS pattern the presence of
graphene oxide/titanium dioxide nanocomposite on the
surface of the treated cotton samples was verified.
Further, X-ray mapping images proposed uniform
distribution of graphene/titanium dioxide nanocomposite.
The fabric electrical resistivity essentially depends on
the time of sunlight irradiation as the time increases the
value of electrical resistivity decreases significantly,
which demonstrated the photocatalytic reduction of
graphene oxide sheets by nano-TiO2. It is expected
that the graphene oxide/TiO2 nanocomposite might be
used to produce high-performance fabrics and smart
textiles.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
This work has been supported by our team (personal funding).
ORCID
Loghman Karimi http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9424-8618
Ramin Khajavi http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6916-4730
11
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