Two-dimensional material titanium carbide (Ti3C2T x MXene) has been widely used for building diverse functional materials; however, the disadvantages of unsatisfactory yield and low concentration during the preparation process generally limit its large-scale promotion. In the present work, an MXene dispersion with enhanced yield (90%), high concentration (45 mg/mL), and excellent dispersibility was successfully prepared. Subsequently, the active MXene nanosheets were effectively in situ deposition onto the silk fiber by means of dip-coating, relying on van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonds. The obtained MXene-decorated silk fabric (MXene@silk) exhibits satisfactory electrical conductivity (170 mS/cm), excellent photothermal and electrothermal conversion properties, especially dual-drive energy conversion, rapid thermal responses, and long-term functional stability. Furthermore, UV protection factor of the fabric, and its antibacterial efficiency against Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) within 20 min of contact reach over 110 and 99%, respectively, demonstrating remarkable UV resistance and rapid photothermal antibacterial ability. Meanwhile, the fabric of MXene@silk still retains the original characteristics of breathability, softness, and skin-friendly properties compared to the untreated. The multifunctional fabric constructed through a facile and high-yield strategy shows a noticeable potential applying to smart textiles to meet people’s multipurpose needs in the future.

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Enzymatic antibacterial finishing is an eco-friendly alternative to develop functional silk-based materials. However, the low accessibility of tyrosine residues distributed in fibroin chains restricts the laccase-mediated functionalization of silk fibers (SF). To address this issue, a highly reactive p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid-modified polyethyleneimine (mPEI) was enzymatically grafted onto fibroin using laccase, aiming at constructing an antibacterial matrix of mPEI on the fiber surface. Subsequently, in situ deposition of silver nanoparticles (i.e., AgNPs) into the newly built mPEI network was performed to form a rapid antibacterial layer. The results indicated that laccase efficiently catalyzes the mPEI coupling, the zeta potential of SF-g-mPEI increases from −32 to 21.70 mV, and the silver content reaches 1.81% after AgNP embedment. Based on the combined two-step treatments, the obtained silk fabric exhibited excellent antibacterial abilities against two bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). The antibacterial rates of both bacteria reached 99.9% within 30 min of contact, remaining over 99.9% within 18 h of contact even after washing 10 times. The present work provides an enzyme-mediated method for construction of silk fabric with durable and rapid antibacterial activity.

Natural fabrics are gradually becoming the ideal substrate for flexible smart wearable devices due to their excellent moisture absorption, softness, and skin-friendliness. However, the bonding fastness of the conductive layer and the corresponding durability during service have not yet been well satisfied. In this report, we successfully prepared a smart wearable multifunctional protective cotton fabric with microbreathing monitoring and rapid-photothermal antibacterial abilities of Cinnamomum camphora bark microstructure, by combining chitosan quaternary ammonium salt (HACC) with MXene nanosheets through electrostatic self-assembly. Impressively, MXene nanosheets and HACC established a strong interaction using the electrostatic attraction, endowing the fiber surface with ordered nanosheets. Meanwhile, the fabric decorated with MXene/HACC retains its original characteristics of outstanding breathability and softness, and its conductivity exhibits noticeable stability in terms of resistances to oxidation, washing, various solvents, and long-term bending cycles. On the basis of the principle of adsorption and release of water molecules in the MXene multilayer structures, the MXene/HACC fabric could accurately monitor the physiological health activities of users according to their breathing frequency and depth. Benefiting from the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect, the MXene/HACC shows encouraging photothermal conversion ability, photothermal stability under long time irradiation, washing resistance, and cycle stability. In addition, the fabric achieved an antibacterial efficiency of nearly 100% against Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Grampositive Staphylococcus aureus within 5 min under an irradiation intensity of 400 mW/cm 2 . More importantly, after 10 washes, the antibacterial efficiency against the two bacteria could still reach 99.975% and 99.98%, respectively. This multifunctional protective MXene/HACC cotton fabric is expected to play a unique role in the new generation of smart wearable microbreathing sensing and against to bacterial attack, and shows a broad application prospect.