Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles by Hydrothermal Methods and Spectroscopic Investigation of Ultraviolet Radiation Protective Properties

Ultraviolet radiation causes damages to the human body, such as skin ageing, skin cancer, and allergies throughout the world. Applying zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in sunscreen products (like cloths or textiles) to protect human skin by absorbing the ultraviolet radiations that emerged from the sun. The main aim of this study is to investigate both absorbance and transmittance characteristics of the untreated and treated cotton textiles. For ZnO NPs using hydrothermal methods, they were made from Zn(NO3)2·6H2O and NaOH at a constant annealing temperature of 300°C. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV-vis spectroscopy were used to analyze the produced ZnO NPs. From the FT-IR result, ZnO NPs were observed in the region of 400-600 cm-1. Wurtzite hexagonal structure of ZnO NPs with the average crystal size 32 ± 49  nm was observed from XRD results. Flowers in the shape of synthesized ZnO NPs were observed from SEM images. The UV-vis penetration peaks were identified at 264 nm and 376 nm, with energy band gaps of 4.68 and 3.536 eV, respectively. When compared to bulk ZnO, the energy band gap of ZnO NPs was blue-shifted due to the impact of quantum confinement. The peaks in UV-vis absorption were caused by an electronic transition from the valiancy to the conduction bands. The high energy band shows high absorbance of the synthesis sample in the case of 264 nm. The ZnO NPs were manufactured and applied to 100% of raw cotton to impart sunscreen action to both untreated and treated cotton fabrics. The performance of treatment has been evaluated utilizing UV-vis spectroscopy through quantifying ultraviolet protective factors (UPF) and percentage of transmitted (%T) radiations. The treated cotton textiles have 61.50% UPF while 2.65% ultraviolet radiations were transmitted. In other words, untreated cotton textiles have 1.63% UPF while 74.56% ultraviolet radiation was transmitted. Therefore, the treated cotton textiles have excellent protection categories when compared to untreated cotton textiles.