Superhydrophobicity, Self-cleaning and Flame Retardancy Properties of Cotton Fabric

A simple and facile method for fabricating the cotton fabric with superhydrophobicity, self-cleaning and flame retardancy was described in the present work. Three types of antimony pentoxide sol (Sb2O5), aluminum hydroxide sol (Al(OH)(3)) and 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (fluoroalkyl silanes) were used as coating for the cotton fabric. It was found that Sb2O5 and Al(OH)(3) exhibited significant synergistic effects on the flame retardancy. When the weight ratio of Sb2O5/Al(OH)(3)(content 30 wt%) was 1:3, the results showed that the limiting oxygen index (LOI) value was 45.1 %, smoke density (SDR) value was 35 %, and it still passed UL94 V-0 rating. The cotton fabrics coated with fluoroalkyl silanes/Sb2O5/ Al(OH)(3) showed a superhydrophobicity, anti-contamination and self-cleaning properties. In addition, the results exhibited the outstanding superhydrophobicity, oil/water separation, excellent waterproofing durability and flame retardancy of cotton fabric after 1000 cycles of washing by water, the LOI value was 40.1 %, SDR value was 39 % and WCA was 152A degrees after 1000 cycles of washing. We believe that this simple, environmentally friendly and versatile fabrication of the cotton fabric had excellent real-life applications.