Rational construction of superhydrophobic PDMS/PTW@cotton fabric for efficient UV/NIR light shielding

The problem of global warming is becoming more and more serious, and the problem of energy consumption is increasing. Materials with high solar reflectivity have great potential in the field of energy saving and environmental protection, and have received extensive attention from researchers. In this work, we successfully constructed superhydrophobic, UV-resistant and self- cleaning cotton fabric with cooling effect by depositing potassium titanate whiskers with strong near-infrared reflectivity and low surface energy polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) on cotton fibers, with water contact angle of 151.9 ± 0.9°. The average temperature of the fabric was 5.1 °C lower than that of bare cotton, with high sunlight reflectivity of 83% and infrared emissivity of nearly 90%. Furthermore, the temperature of the fabric on the human body surface can be reduced by 3.1–4.7 °C under direct sunlight. After 20 washings, the contact angle remained almost stable and still had a certain cooling effect. The prepared superhydrophobic fabric has the advantages of simple preparation, high economic value, excellent performance, and shows great application prospects in the field of outdoor clothing.