Synthesis and functional finishing of textile materials using zinc-based functional nanoparticles

Nosocomial infection is a major concern in the healthcare sector, where civilians and clinical staff are affected by a detrimental pathogen-contaminated environment. In such cases, the probability of spreading such infections is higher due to multiple uses of medical cotton textiles such as gowns, masks, bed linen, etc., that are not sufficiently cleaned. Nevertheless, cotton textiles are widely used in medical garments and wound dressings. In this context, functional coatings of cotton textiles with nanoparticles have emerged as a prominent solution to create a microbe-free environment. Especially, semiconductor nanoparticles like zinc oxide (ZnO) and its composites are highly preferable owing to their nontoxic, self-cleaning, and microbe-inhibiting properties against many vulnerable microorganisms. Moreover, the antimicrobial performance of ZnO nanostructured metal oxides can be enhanced by fine tuning their physical and chemical properties using synthesis approaches. With this background, this chapter aims to describe the various synthesis and finishing approaches reported so far.