Heterostructured MXene/alginate coating for fire warning and protection: Preparation and characterization

Cotton fabrics with intelligent fire warning and protection have promising applications in smart wearables and smart home decoration. In this study, multifunctional nanoparticles (M@A) with heterogeneous structures are constructed through the electrostatic self-assembly of core-shell structured silver nanowires (AgNW@BP) and MXene nanosheets. Subsequently, M@A is blended with bio-based sodium alginate (SA) to prepare multifunctional cotton fabrics that exhibit fire warning, thermal conductivity, high strength, and flame retardancy. For instance, the tensile strength of the multifunctional fabric is 58.5 MPa, surpassing that of some MXene paper/films used for fire warning (~10 MPa). Furthermore, the catalytic charring effect of AgNW@BP and the labyrinth effect of MXene synergistically enhances the flame retardancy of the multifunctional cotton fabric (total heat release rate, total smoke production and peak heat release rate of the multifunctional cotton fabric are 5.7 MJ/m, 0.09 m2, and 126.8 kW/m2, respectively). Significantly, the multifunctional cotton fabric also demonstrates a fast response time (2 s) and repeatable alarm capability when exposed to flames attack.. Hence, this work provides inspiration for the design and fabrication of multifunctional cotton fabrics with intelligent fire warning and protection.