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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Fiber Bioscience and Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #384979
Research Project: Innovative Approaches for Value Added Cotton-Containing Nonwovens

Location: Cotton Fiber Bioscience and Utilization Research

Title: An environmentally-friendly sandwich-like structured nanocoating system for wash durable, flame retardant, and hydrophobic cotton fabrics

Author
item ZHANG, DONGQIAO - University Of Connecticut
item WILLIAMS, BRANDON - University Of Connecticut
item LIU, JINGJING - University Of Connecticut
item HOU, ZAILI - University Of Connecticut
item SMITH, ANDREW - University Of Connecticut
item Nam, Sunghyun
item NASIR, ZAIN - University Of Connecticut
item PATEL, HARSH - University Of Connecticut
item PARTYKA, ANTHONY - University Of Connecticut
item BECHER, ELAINA - University Of Connecticut
item LOFINK, BENJAMIN - University Of Connecticut
item SANTOS, VICTOR - University Of Connecticut
item PENG, XIAOHONG - South China University Of Technology
item SUN, LUYI - University Of Connecticut

Submitted to: Cellulose
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/27/2021
Publication Date: 9/6/2021
Citation: Zhang, D., Williams, B.L., Liu, J., Hou, Z., Smith, A.T., Nam, S., Nasir, Z., Patel, H., Partyka, A., Becher, E.M., Lofink, B.J., Santos, V.H., Peng, X., Sun, L. 2021. An environmentally-friendly sandwich-like structured nanocoating system for wash durable, flame retardant, and hydrophobic cotton fabrics. Cellulose. 28:10277-10289.

Interpretive Summary: Here we report a facile and effective approach to produce wash durable, flame retardant, and hydrophobic cotton fabrics by designing a sandwich-like coating using four polymers. These polymers were layered on the surface of cotton fabrics and bound to each other through electrostatic interactions. An optimum combination of the polymers in obtaining a balance between properties and wash durability was determined. This surface modification is expected to extend the applications of cotton.

Technical Abstract: Wash durable, flame retardant, and hydrophobic coatings on cotton fabrics were designed and prepared via layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly and UV curing. The coatings contain montmorillonite (MMT), ammonia polyphosphate (APP), acrylated polyurethane (PU), branched polyethylenimine (bPEI), and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Negatively charged MMT and APP contribute to flame retardancy, while PU is a binder. Positively charged bPEI serves as the adhesive between the cotton fabric substrate and the coating system. PDMS on the top surface brings hydrophobicity. The systematic evaluations of the coated fabrics after washing demonstrated that this coating system can maintain balanced wash durability and flame retardancy.