Multifunctional and durable thermal management coating from sericin-MXene biohybrid on silk fabric micro-etched by deep eutectic solvent

Integration of natural textiles (e.g. silk) and two-dimensional transition metal carbide/nitride (MXene) is promising for the development of wearable thermal management materials. However, fabricating MXene-decorated textiles with durable and stable thermal management performance remains a challenge due to the susceptible oxidation of MXene and the weak interaction between MXene and fibers. Here, we propose a novel surface modification strategy for MXene nanosheets (SSMXene) by co-assembling with natural sericin to protect against water and oxygen, enrich surface chemistry, and significantly enhance oxidative stability. Subsequently, SSMXene-coated silk fabrics (M-silk) were developed via choline chloride/oxalic acid deep eutectic solvent (DES) micro-etching pretreatment and then decorating SSMXene through a scalable solution dip-coating technique. Notably, DES micro-etching pretreatment enabled strong interfacial bonding between SSMXene and fibers through the synergistic effect of hydrogen bonding and mechanical locking. The fabricated M-silk not only demonstrated desirable thermal management performance, including active electrical heating (the maximum temperature rise = 55.6 °C) and passive radiative heating (the mid-infrared emissivity as low as 0.24 at 7–14 μm), but also possessed superior breathability, laundry durability, and flame retardancy. Therefore, the smart, comfortable, durable, and multifunctional M-silk displays great potential for achieving effective personal thermal management.