“One Stone Three Birds”: A multifunctional cotton fabric with favorable self-cleaning, photothermal effect and Joule heating properties

Abstract

In this work, a multifunctional cotton fabric with self-cleaning property, photothermal effect, and Joule heating performance is developed by simply coating the cotton fabric with PEDOT:PSS, pen ink and PDMS. The electrical conductivity of the fabric can be effectively improved by the glycol doped PEDOT:PSS and ink modification. Joule-heating generated by the fabric’s electrical conductivity enables it to be applied to cold fields and personal thermal management, and the photothermal effect of ink modification on the fabric can be used to accelerate water evaporation and remove contaminants. Moreover, further coating with PDMS not only gives the fabric good hydrophobicity for self-cleaning, but also gives the fabric high stability against harsh conditions including organic solvents and ultraviolet radiation. This work provides a new way to expand the application range of cotton fabrics and apply them to solve various problems in different fields.