Regular Article Multifunctionalization of wool fabrics through nanoparticles: A chemical route towards smart textiles Stefania Mura a,⇑ , Gianfranco Greppi a,b , Luca Malfatti c , Barbara Lasio c , Vanna Sanna d , Maria Elena Mura e , Salvatore Marceddu f , Antonella Lugliè b a Nucleo di Ricerca sulla Desertificazione, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Viale Italia 39, 07100 Sassari, Italy b DADU, Dipartimento di Architettura Design e Urbanistica, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Palazzo del Pou Salit, Piazza Duomo 6, 07041 Alghero, SS, Italy c Laboratorio di Scienza dei Materiali e Nanotecnologie, CR-INSTM, Università di Sassari, Palazzo Pou Salit, Piazza Duomo 6, 07041 Alghero, SS, Italy d Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Laboratory of Nanomedicine, University of Sassari, c/o Porto Conte Ricerche, Tramariglio, 07041 Alghero, SS, Italy e Bioecopest srl, Technology Park of Sardinia, Loc. Tramariglio, 07041 Alghero, SS, Italy f CNR – Istituto Scienze delle Produzioni Alimentari Traversa La Crucca, 3 – Località Baldinca, 07040 Li Punti, Sassari, Italy graphical abstract article info Article history: Received 13 March 2015 Accepted 11 June 2015 Available online 18 June 2015 Keywords: Wool Nanoparticles Titania Silica Silver Nanotextiles abstract A new approach towards the design of smart nanotextiles with innovative properties is presented. Silica (SiO 2 ), titania (TiO 2 ), and silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs), were synthesized without the use of any toxic organic compound and then were used, alone and in combination, to functionalize wool fabrics. Electrostatic forces, influenced by a low pH of the solutions, allowed the interactions between wool fabrics and NPs, enabling a robust functionalization. This was verified by X-ray microfluorescence and visualized by scanning electron microscopy measurements. The antibacterial Ag NPs were embedded in a polymer, alginic acid, to reduce the possible side effect due to their direct contact with the skin. SiO 2 NPs, instead, were used to change the hydrophilicity of wool while the functionalization with TiO 2 NPs was chosen to provide self-cleaning properties. The antibacterial activity of the fabrics was studied against the bacteria Escherichia coli, while the hydrophilicity of wool was studied by contact angle measurements and the self-cleaning properties were tested by estimating the visible discoloring of a dye stain under sunlight irra- diation. Interestingly the combination of three different types of NPs provided the best results. SiO 2 and Ag made the wool superhydrophilic providing at the same time the best antibacterial properties, while fabrics with titania (alone or in combination) were hydrophobic and showed the best self-cleaning properties. Ó 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2015.06.018 0021-9797/Ó 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: mura.stefania@gmail.com (S. Mura). Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 456 (2015) 85–92 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Colloid and Interface Science www.elsevier.com/locate/jcis