WS2 nanoparticles screen printed cotton for dual piezo- and photocatalytic antibacterial and dye degradation performance

Pristine cotton fabric was screen printed with tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanoparticles (NPs). The ability of the resulting fabric to degrade dye and inhibit bacterial growth through piezo- and photocatalysis was examined. During a 2 h bacterial contact time, the piezocatalytic study of unwashed WS2-printed fabric reduced E. coli and S. aureus by 93% and 90%, respectively. During photocatalysis, the modified cloth reduced the growth of E. coli and S. aureus by 91% and 88%, respectively. After washing (15 cycles), both the piezo- and photocatalytic performance of the modified fabric demonstrated more than 83% bacteria inhibition. The maximum piezocatalytic Rhodamine B (RhB) dye mineralization of 65% was attained in 240 min as opposed to 11% in pure cotton. The photocatalytic study of WS2-coated fabric degraded RhB dye by 46%, while only 11% of the RhB dye was mineralized by the pure cotton fabric in 240 min.