MSc Thesis Defense: Efe Kuruoğlu , OPTICAL PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT OF COTTON FIBERS VIA NANOPARTICLE INTEGRATION: A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY USING FDTD METHOD, Date & Time: May 4th, 2026 – 10:30 AM, Place: FASS 2031

OPTICAL PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT OF COTTON FIBERS VIA NANOPARTICLE INTEGRATION: A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY USING FDTD METHOD

Efe Kuruoğlu
Mechatronics Engineering, MSc Thesis, 2026

Thesis Jury

     Prof. İbrahim Kürşat Şendur (Thesis Advisor)

  Prof. Güllü Kızıltaş Şendur

  Asst. Prof. Muhammed Ali Keçebaş

Date & Time: May 4th, 2026 – 10:30 AM

Place: FASS 2031

Keywords : Smart Textile, Nanotextiles, Functional Textiles, Electromagnetics  

Abstract

Clothing has accompanied humanity since its earliest struggle against nature. As humans migrated toward colder lands, their fragile physiology met the harsh conditions of the environment, so they began to wrap themselves in protection. From that first act of survival clothing has been considered as one of the main tools to fight entropy. In this thesis, that same impulse to control energy is revisited at the nanoscale. This research investigated how nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2), silver (Ag), and zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) affect the optical behavior of cotton fibers across the ultraviolet (200–400 nm) and infrared (700 nm–1 mm) spectral ranges. Cotton, the most widespread plant-based fiber, possesses excellent comfort and sustainability but remains a strong absorber and weak reflector of electromagnetic radiation. Using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method within ANSYS Lumerical software, this study examined the reflectance, absorbance, and transmittance of cylindrical cotton fibers through modeling such fibers with a single nanoparticle layer. Relying on the Fresnel equation TiO2 nanoparticles showed a 30% increased reflectance in the UV region; Ag nanoparticles showed a 60-70% increased reflectance in the visible and NIR regions; and ZrO2 nanoparticles showed 13.5% increased reflectance in both the UV and visible regions. Though the present work is entirely computational, these results suggest a broader vision: a strong potential to enhance natural fibers through physics rather than chemistry, using electromagnetic design instead of pigment. This thesis is an attempt to merge the oldest of human materials with one of the youngest of human sciences.