In summary, we elucidated the physical and chemical properties of both ZnO and ZnS light-activated antimicrobial coatings based on a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches. Both ZnO and ZnS coatings had hexagonal wurtzite structures and were obtained successfully using the hydro(solvo)thermal method, with high reactivities as disinfection agents in photocatalysis reactions. Also, the ZnO-and ZnS-coated cotton fabrics provided excellent UV protective properties, which led to a blocking UVA and UVB rays significantly. An irregular sphere-like morphology was observed for the ZnS coating on the cotton fabric, while, under the same hydro(solvo)thermal conditions, a flower-like morphology (based on the selfassembly of nanorods) was obtained for the ZnO coating. Theoretical results showed that the excited ZnO cluster had a more polarised structure than that of ZnS, which can be confirmed by QTAIM results suggesting a stronger ionic character for Zn-O bonds. This leads to distortions in bond lengths and angles that influence its spectroscopic properties, as a direct consequence of intrinsic defects within the material. Regarding the spectroscopic properties, the clusters exhibited similar absorbance spectra with peaks at 357 nm (ZnO) and 370 nm (ZnS).