Durable, multifunctional cotton fabrics with in situ deposited micro/nanomaterials for effective self-cleaning, oil-water separation and antibacterial activity

Chenlu Jiao; Die Liu; Xiang Chen; Jinghong Chen; Dongdong Ye

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131848

Durable, multifunctional cotton fabrics with in situ deposited micro/nanomaterials for effective self-cleaning, oil-water separation and antibacterial activity

Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Apr 28;269(Pt 1):131848. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131848. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chenlu Jiao¹, Die Liu², Xiang Chen², Jinghong Chen², Dongdong Ye³

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials and Chemistry, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui 230036, China; Anhui Provincial Engineering Center for High Performance Biobased Nylons, Hefei, Anhui 230036, China. Electronic address: jiaochenlu@ahau.edu.cn.
² School of Materials and Chemistry, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui 230036, China.
³ School of Materials and Chemistry, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui 230036, China; Anhui Provincial Engineering Center for High Performance Biobased Nylons, Hefei, Anhui 230036, China. Electronic address: ydd@whu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38688336
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131848

Abstract

The facile modification of cotton fabrics for excellent self-cleaning, oil-water separation, and antibacterial activity is of great interest for multifunctional requirements. Herein, a durable, robust, fluorine-free multifunctional cotton fabric was fabricated via in-situ growing zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) on the cotton surface, followed by depositing hydrophobic SiO₂ (H-SiO₂) nanoparticles synthesized via an improved Stöber reaction. Meanwhile, the abundant hydroxyls of the cotton fabrics provided the necessary ion interaction sites for the uniform deposition of micro/nanomaterials, confirmed by the visualized Raman imaging technology. The resultant H-SiO₂/ZIF-67@cotton fabric exhibited superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 159° and versatile self-cleaning, antifouling, oil-water separation, as well as prominent antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli. At the same time, the superhydrophobic cotton fabric possessed excellent durability and stability against harsh environments, including abrasion, washing, acid, base, salt, and organic solvents. This facile technique can be applied for large-scale production of multifunctional superhydrophobic cotton fabrics due to its easy operation, low cost, and environmental friendliness.

Keywords: Cotton fabric; Harsh environments; Multifunction; Surface modification; micro/nanomaterials.