Photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide bleaching of cotton

Abstract

In this study, photocatalytic bleaching of cotton via ultraviolet (UV) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) has been investigated. 254 nm UV light was used for this purpose and the UV irradiation intensity was measured. A specially designed UV cabinet with UV lamps on both sides and top of the cabinet with total 18 UV lamps creating 470 Watts was used during the experiments. The whiteness degrees of the cotton samples that were bleached by the H2O2/UV treatment were compared to the whiteness degrees of the conventionally bleached (pad-steam method) cotton fabric samples. Satisfactory whiteness degrees could be obtained by H2O2/UV treatment for 40 and 60 min treatment times. However, strength loss was high for 60 min UV irradiation. The UV irradiation intensity was also found to be effective on the whiteness and strength values of the samples.