Facile fabrication of superior antibacterial cotton fabric based on ZnO nanoparticles/quaternary ammonium salts hybrid composites and mechanism study

In the research for the safe and efficiently antibacterial cotton fabrics to minimize risk for human health, an organic–inorganic hybrid material of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and quaternary ammonium salt (QAS) was employed to modify cotton fabrics by a dipping–padding–drying method. The synergistic effects of ZnO NPs and QAS on the structure and antibacterial properties of cotton fabrics were studied in detail. Results displayed that the QAS and ZnO NPs were immobilized firmly in cotton fabric by the formation of chemical covalent bonds and silica gel structure. ZnO/QAS/cotton had a good inhibitory effect on the growth of E. coli and S. aureus, with superior antibacterial efficiency of >99.99%. ZnO/QAS/cotton preserved good mechanical property, water absorbability, and limpness. We also provided a detailed analysis of antibacterial mechanism for the hybrid materials. The contact mechanism and the Zn²⁺ release were considered as the main mechanisms for the ZnO/QAS/cotton, while the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation only had a little contribution to the antibacterial activity. In short, the excellent integrated properties endowed the hybrid cotton fabrics as potential application in many fields, like healthcare, food packaging.