Development of durable superhydrophobic and UV protective cotton fabric via TiO2/trimethoxy(octadecyl)silane nanocomposite coating

This work was focused on the development of superhydrophobic and UV protective cotton fabric by simple approach. Cotton fabric was coated with TiO2 particles by one step hydrothermal reaction. TiO2 coated fabric was subsequent treated with Trimethoxy(octadecyl)silane (OTMS). The effect of hydrothermal reaction time on synthesis of nanoparticles was studied. The results showed TiO2 particles were uniformly distributed on the fiber surface with a high coating density. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDS analysis and Raman spectroscopy techniques were used to investigate the surface structure of coated fabrics. The analysis of superhydrophobicity, UV protection and oil/water separation was performed. The water contact angle was increased to 146°, 153° and 159° for deposition duration of 4, 8 and 12 h, respectively. The robust superhydrophobic fabric exhibited good stability against physical and chemical insults including mechanical abrasion test, washing durability, and exposures to extreme aqueous conditions (e.g. acidic and alkaline). Further, the superhydrophobic cotton fabrics with special wettability showed great potentials for oil/water separation under various conditions (e.g. floating oil layer or underwater oil droplet or even oil/water mixtures). In addition, this facile approach can be widely used to construct multifunctional textiles with excellent self-cleaning, UV protection, and oil/water separation properties.