Breathable, self-healable, durable superhydrophobic and UV-blocking cotton fabrics

Recently, varieties of inorganic nanoparticles including SiO2, TiO2 and ZnO have been employed to construct superhydrophobic cotton fabrics. However, due to lack of covalent bonds between cotton fibers and nanoparticles, the inorganic nanoparticles on superhydrophobic fabric surfaces are easily fell off, severely shortening their service life during real-life applications. To address this issue, a new incorporating strategy is proposed to fabricate superhydrophobic fabrics by combing TiO2 nanoparticles with Octa-[2-(carboxyl methyl thio) ethyl]-polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane/polydimethylsiloxane (MAPOSS/PDMS) composite coating. Results show that the modified fabric exhibits excellent, robust and durable superhydrophobicity under various harsh conditions. Interestingly, the modified fabric shows excellent self-healing superhydrophobic capability by simple heating treatment even after being suffered from 200 abrasion cycles or 25 cycles of O2 plasma etching. Meanwhile, the coated fabric also showcases superior self-cleaning property, excellent anti-fouling performance, high oil/water separation efficiency and outstanding UV-blocking capability. Most notably, the modified fabric still exhibits excellent UV-blocking stability after being abrased 200 cycles, and laundered 100 cycles. In addition, the mechanical and thermal properties of modified fabric are greatly improved without compromising its breathability. These findings will pave a way to develop advanced multifunctional textiles, envisioning broad application prospects in oil–water separation, UV-blocking textiles, life jackets, self-cleaning and self-healing fields in the future.