Effects of chitosan on the metal absorption and UV protection properties of woven cotton fabric

Abstract

In this research, cotton fabrics were treated with carboxylated chitosan, loaded by the pad-dry-cure method for investigating the absorption of heavy metals and the Ultraviolet (UV) protection properties of fabric samples. For this purpose, chitosan-treated cotton fabrics were soaked in CuSO4 solution to investigate the rate of heavy metal absorption. The surface morphology of cotton fabrics was investigated using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. Inductively coupled Plasma Spectroscopy (ICP) analysis was employed to examine the amount of heavy metals' absorption upon chitosan-treated cotton fabrics. Besides, reflection and transmission spectrophotometry analyses were used to examine the optical properties of cotton fabrics. The results show a noticeable increase in copper absorption by increasing the amount of chitosan. The maximum absorption of Cu belongs to the %6 chitosan-treated sample by 7357.6 PPM, equal to %7.35. The more concentration of chitosan in the fibre causes a higher rate of UV protection. Therefore, the chitosan-treated cotton fabrics examined in this work can be used for various water filtration purposes, notably to eliminate toxic metals. Also, It can be used as a wearable textile for protecting against harmful UV rays.