Synthesis, Characterization, and Functional Properties of ZnO-based Polyurethane Nanocomposite for Textile Applications

A zinc oxide-based polyurethane (PU) nanocomposite was synthesized using an in-situ polymerization technique, and the structure was confirmed using FT-IR and EDS elemental mapping. XRD, GPC, TGA, UV-visible spectroscopy, UTM, FE-SEM, and HR-TEM were employed to investigate the differences in the physico-chemical properties and structural morphology between regular and ZnO-based polyurethane (ZnO-PU). The ZnO-PU exhibited superior thermal and UV protection properties compared to regular polyurethane. Rheological studies suggest that PU behaves as a non-Newtonian fluid and shows excellent viscoelastic properties suitable for the preparation of composite films. ZnO-PU exhibited significant antimicrobial activity compared to regular polyurethane. The dyeing properties of PET/PU and PET/ZnO-PU revealed that their partition ratios and color fastness were comparable. The overall results suggest that ZnO-PU nanocomposites can find potential applications as functional elastic materials in the textile industry.