Title
A nature inspired approach toward superhydrophobic cotton fabric for multifunctional use
Conference Dates
September 8-13, 2019
Abstract
Nowadays, there is growing concern on the cotton fabric related to stain, dust, harmful UV irradiation, growing bacteria and other microorganism due to its hydrophilic nature. Inspired by nature, the high repellency of lotus leave, have gained the more attention due to its special wettability properties. These are the two key factors to create superhydrophobic surface: roughness and low surface energy materials1. In this work, a one step process was used to artificial modify the surface from superhydrophlic to superhydrophobic. Here, the fluorine-free silane was used as a coating material. The contact angle of modified surface is more than 150° and tilt angle less than 10°. It can sustained the superhydrophobicity in saline water (3.5% w/v) with good washing, thermal and chemical stability. It showed the bacteria anti-adhesion activity against the E. coli bacteria with moisture control ability. It could be used for the oil-water separation about 99% efficiency. Thus, the applied functional coating can be used for household as well as in medical due to its multifunctional applications. This process was simple, eco-friendly, and economical. Cotton fabric consists of abundant hydroxyl group on its surface. Moreover, silane is found as a low surface energy material and contains both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups. These hydrophilic groups react with the hydroxyl groups through the chemical bonding, and showed the washing durability. Due to inherent micro structure in the woven matrix, they are considered heterogeneous (air pockets at the interface) with different rough scale. Here, the low surface energy material was used to prepared the superhydrophobic surface without using any nanoparticles. The modified surface showed the excellent repellence towards the all liquids based products such as tea, milk etc. with blood. The pristine cotton can absorb the water quickly and create the humid environment and works as a nutrient for the bacteria grow. So, it has the good moisture control property and bacteria anti-adhesion properties due to its superhydrophobic nature. These are key points which inspired to create this unique coating to modify cotton fabric. Here, the fluorine-free silane was used as a low surface energy material which is economical and non-toxic in nature. This modify surface was prepared without using any harmful nanoparticles or adhesive. This functional coating did not alter any properties of fabric such as flexibility and color. So, it could be concluded that the modify fabric can be used in various fields without any harmful effect on surrounding as well as human skin.
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Recommended Citation
Poonam Chauhan and Aditya Kumar, "A nature inspired approach toward superhydrophobic cotton fabric for multifunctional use" in "Nature-Inspired Engineering", Marc-Olivier Coppens, University College London, United Kingdom Bharat Bhushan, Ohio State University, USA Eds, ECI Symposium Series, (2019). https://dc.engconfintl.org/nature_inspired/5