Optimization of durable, multifunctional and skin-sensed mechanical comfort properties of green hybrid nano fluids treated cotton fabric

Promoting medical textiles with skin-sensed mechanical comfort for biomedical applications, cost-effectively utilizing bio-inspired hybrid nano fluids, is exceptionally challenging. Addressing durable multifunctionality with respect to skin-sensed mechanical comfort properties, the present research incorporates three different formulations of bioinspired Ag-SiO₂ hybrid nano fluids. The hydrodynamic performance of these hybrid nano fluids is explored by Dynamic light scattering (DLS) where Ag-SiO_2(10 g/L)-bis hybrid nano fluid shows the highest dispersion stability -25.5 mV among the three formulations. The surface morphology, chemical composition, and diffraction pattern of untreated and treated fabric are assessed by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray diffractometers (XRD), respectively. Among functional properties, antibacterial properties, UV protection ability, flame retardancy, and thermal stability are evaluated. The outcomes of these functional properties are also found satisfactory for Ag-SiO_2(10 g/L)-bis treated fabric in most cases. More specifically, around 99.9% antibacterial efficacy, 14.25 UPF value and the highest thermal stability are achieved by Ag-SiO_2(10 g/L)-bis treated fabric. In addition, skin-sensed wear comfort properties are investigated to determine thermal–mechanical sensory properties like softness, smoothness, and warmth of fabric, respectively. From these values, global sensory indices are obtained and are very close to the pristine one for Ag-SiO_2(10 g/L)-bis treated fabric. Besides, cytotoxicity of Ag-SiO_2(10 g/L)-bis treated fabric is also assessed and exhibits non-cytotoxicity. The outcomes of this study suggest that Ag-SiO_2(10 g/L)-bis treated fabric can be utilized for both medical and thermal protective clothing with suitable wear comfort properties.