Integrating multifunctional highly efficient flame-retardant coatings with superhydrophobicity, antibacterial property on cotton fabric

Abstract

There has been a growing interest in bio-based flame-retardant coating layer with good antibacterial activity for cotton fabric owing to the arising environmental pollution and viral and bacterial infectious risks. In this study, multifunctional flame-retardant coatings with superhydrophobicity and antibacterial property were integrated on cotton fabric through two-step method. The first layer of phosphorylated chitosan (PCS) biobased coating (C4) endowed the fabric highly efficient flame retardancy and antibacterial activity, and the second layer of modified poly(2–hydroxyethyl methacrylate phosphate ester) (PHEMAP) coating by perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane (P/F) provided the fabric excellent superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning ability. The C4–P/F fabric exhibited a shorter damage length of only 6.2 cm and achieved a higher char yield of 22.3 % than the C4 fabric in the vertical combustion test, and the limited oxygen index of the C4–P/F fabric increased to 32.5 %. The water contact angle (WCA) of the C4–P/F fabric reached above 150 o. Moreover, the C4–P/F fabric exhibited excellent antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The highly efficient flame-retardant, superhydrophobic, antibacterial fabric is promising in home and public decoration, fire protection fields.