Chemical treatment of cotton fabric by eco-friendly carbon quantum dots-chitosan nanocomposites

The current research aims to synthesize carbon quantum dots-chitosan nanocomposites (CQDs-CS) and investigate the effects of its adding on the various properties of cotton fabric like color fastness, color features and antimicrobial activity. To achieve this goal, initially carbon quantum dots-chitosan nanocomposites (CQDs-CS) were synthesized in different weight percentages, and then examined and characterized through a variety of spectrometry methods including FTIR, HR-TEM, Photoluminescence, UV-visible and FESEM. Next, chemical treatment of the cotton fabric by CQDs-CS was studied via FESEM spectrometry, color fastness analysis, colorimetric parameters, and Mueller-Hinton broth antibacterial testing. Findings evinced that chemical treatment of cotton fabric by CQDs-CS nanocomposites led to a minor improvement of light fastness, washing fastness and some colorimetric data. Moreover, the synthesized nanocomposites caused the both gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria present in the cotton fabric to be significantly eliminated.