Superhydrophobic, Superoleophobic and Antimicrobial Coatings for the Protection of Silk Textiles

Abstract

A method to produce multifunctional coatings for the protection of silk is developed. Aqueous dispersion, free of any organic solvent, containing alkoxy silanes, organic fluoropolymer, silane quaternary ammonium salt, and silica nanoparticles (7 nm in mean diameter) is sprayed onto silk which obtains (i) superhydrophobic and superoleophobic properties, as evidenced by the high contact angles (>150 •) of water and oil drops and (ii) antimicrobial properties. Potato dextrose agar is used as culture medium for the growth of microorganisms. The protective coating hinders the microbial growth on coated silk which remains almost free of contamination after extensive exposure to the microorganisms. Furthermore, the multifunctional coating induces a moderate reduction in vapor permeability of the treated silk, it shows very good durability against abrasion and has a minor visual effect on the aesthetic appearance of silk. The distinctive roles of the silica nanoparticles and the antimicrobial agent on the aforementioned properties of the coating are investigated. Silica nanoparticles induce surface structures at the micro/nano-meter scale and are therefore responsible for the achieved extreme wetting properties that promote the antimicrobial activity. The latter is further enhanced by adding the silane quaternary ammonium salt in the composition of the protective coating.

Which Are the Main Surface Disinfection Approaches at the Time of SARS-CoV-2?

“…made with a water repellent compounds and silica nanoparticles has been developed. The multifunctional coating proves superhydrophobic and superoleophobic behavior (contact angle > 150°) against water, and it protects silk from bacterial contamination (Aslanidou and Karapanagiotis, 2018).…”

Hydrophobically modified cotton fabric assisted separation of oil-water mixture

“…The sol-gel method was initially used to prepare inorganic-organic polymers but nowadays it has become a very successful and most used method in coating technology. Textiles are also coated by the sol-gel method because of easy processibility, low temperature, and cost-effective, high homogeneity with various functionality (Aslanidou & Karapanagiotis 2018;Cheng et al 2018). For textile applications, the sol can be deposited onto textile fabrics in different ways, it may be by dip-coating, rolling, padding, spin coating or spray coating.…”

Functional Fibers, Composites and Textiles Utilizing Photothermal and Joule Heating

“…These days, the scope of application of functional textiles has been further extended to clothes for health care [20][21][22], medical treatments [23][24][25], sports and leisure [26][27][28], environmental pollution [29][30][31], and wearable optoelectronics [32][33][34][35]. Therefore, special functions including antimicrobial [36][37][38][39], warming or cooling [40][41][42], waterproof [43][44][45], or windproof properties [46,47] need to be incorporated into the fibers. As a representative technology, photocatalytic nanomaterials such as titanium dioxide nanoparticles have been combined with fibers to degrade odor-causing chemicals and microbial species under light irradiation to remove any unhealthy odor or bacteria [48][49][50].…”