Novel and eco-friendly hydrophobic treatment of cotton and polyester fabrics based-on octavinyl and aminopropylisobutyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (OL-POSS and AM-POSS)

The hydrophobicity of cotton and polyester fabrics plays a significant role in various industrial applications. Anchoring hydrophobic chemicals onto the fabric surface is one of the major strategies. Fluorinated chemicals are widely employed to construct hydrophobic surfaces. However, alternative hydrophobic coatings are urgently sought by researchers due to the potential risks and hazards of fluorinated chemicals. Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) are one of the most potential alternatives as they increase the roughness and lower the surface energy through chemical enhancement of the surface. In this work, hydrophobic cotton and polyester surfaces were fabricated anchoring Octavinyl POSS (OL-POSS) and Aminopropylisobutyl POSS (AM-POSS) onto the surface via one-step dip-coating technique. To enhance the surface roughness and the hydrophobicity, Ultraviolet (UV) radiation was employed with Benzoyl Peroxide (BPO) initiator. Water contact angle (WCA) of both fabrics increased from 0° to 136° using 5% POSS coatings with initiator and UV present. Water absorption duration (WAD) also increased from several seconds up to 310 min. Furthermore, 5% POSS modified fabrics gave similar or better WAD values when compared to coatings treated with fluorinated chemicals. The findings confirmed that OL-POSS and AM-POSS coatings are eligible environmentally friendly candidates for the replacement of fluorinated chemicals.