Polyphenylene sulfide fabric with improved antibacterial properties and comprehensive performances by new polybenzoxazine based coating for protection applications

Abstract

Polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) fabric is promising for personal protective equipment (PPE) due to its excellent mechanical properties. However, issues such as a lack of antibacterial properties, limits its applications, especially today when COVID-19 is a pandemic. Herein, we synthesize a new benzoxazine monomer (BTE) with ester and triazole groups and demonstrate its usage as a coating for comprehensive high-performance PPS fabric. The polymerized BTE exhibits an antibacterial rate of 77.4%, and outstanding flame-retardant properties (The Heat release capacity (HRC) value is 62 J g−1 K−1 and the Total heat release (THR) value is 9.4 kJ g−1). The mechanical performance and acid resistance of BTE-coated PPS fabric show excellent improvement. The tensile strength of the modified system rise by approximately 24.7%, reaching 8.6 MPa, while the corresponding Young's modulus increases by 51.7%, reaching 36.7 MPa, respectively, and after 72 h of acid treatment, the tensile strength retention rate reaches 91.7%. Furthermore, the BTE-coated PPS fabric demonstrates a complete change in wettability (the hydrophilic surface of PPS becomes hydrophobic for BTE-coated PPS) with only a slight reduction in the air permeability (260 mm s−1 for PPS and 198 mm s−1 for BTE coated PPS), making it an appealing material for PPE and demonstrating the potential of related materials for harsh environment protective systems.