on the leaf surface results in high water contact angle (WCA) of >150° and low sliding angle of <10°. [2] Such a surface termed as "superhydrophobic" or "ultrahydrophobic," has now found myriad applications in our day-to-day lives. Superhydrophobic coatings are now being extensively investigated for applications in automobile, aerospace, building, marine, and clean energy industries. They are also explored on flexible substrates such as nonwoven materials like paper for bandages [3] and woven materials like textiles for clothing, oil-water separation, food packaging and health-care applications. [4] Surface modification of the textiles has gained increasing attention due to the flexibility, easy availability, and inexpensiveness of the raw materials. Superhydrophobicity improves the performance of the fabric, enhances the shelf life by reducing the number of laundering cycles, and aids in minimizing the expenditure of energy and resources in maintaining these materials. Various researchers have successfully demonstrated the synthesis of superhydrophobic fabrics, [5] and additional functions like antibacterial activity, [6] UV blocking, [7] electrical conductivity, [8] flame redardancy, [9] photocatalytic activity, [10] and self-healing ability [11] are now gaining attention.With growing awareness among the consumers, products that are safe, eco-friendly, and in the meantime ensuring a comfortable and healthy life are in great demand nowadays. As textiles are universally utilized for manufacturing clothes and garments, synthesis of multifunctional fabrics with superhydrophobicity, antibacterial activity, and UVblocking ability would result in manifold improvement of clothing performance. Incorporation of superhydrophobicity will make fabrics stain resistant, self-cleanable, and reduce laundering care. [12] Antibacterial activity over the surface will ensure resistance from foul odor and growth of contagious microorganisms under imperfect weather conditions. [13] Additionally, UV-blocking property would protect the wearer from harmful UV rays making these fabrics useful for outdoor purposes. [14] These properties would further enhance its application in health care, military, and various other industries.Synthesis of multifunctional fabrics with long-lasting durability remains a quest for researchers in the past decade. In this work, robust coatings on cotton fabrics for superhydrophobic, antibacterial, and UV-blocking functionalities by a dual-stage silanization technique are reported. Aminopropyltriethoxysilane is utilized as a silane cross-linker to anchor zinc oxide nanoparticles to the pristine cotton fabric surface, followed by modification with a silane hydrophobe, hexadecyltrimethoxysilane. This dual-silanization approach results in highly functional fabrics displaying superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 154°, water shedding angle of 2°, antibacterial activity of up to 98%, and UV-blocking ability more than 200 times of pristine cotton. The as-prepared fabrics display excellent durabili...
