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In this work, a sustainable flame retardant and superhydrophobic cotton fabric was prepared by a two-step process: the cotton fabric was firstly treated with a chitosan/sodium polyborate polyelectrolyte complex water solution to obtain a flame retardant layer, and then treated with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) tetrahydrofuran solution to construct a superhydrophobic layer. The phase-separated chitosan with a micro-nano roughness structure was covered by PDMS, which synergistically improved the hydrophobicity of the cotton fabric. The flammability evaluation indicated that the limiting oxygen index value of the treated fabric was increased to 40.0% from 18.2%, the peak of heat release rate was reduced by 63.8%, and the total heat release was reduced by 57.6% compared with that of the control sample. The enhanced flame retardancy was attributed to the excellent charring ability in the condensed phase. The treated fabric also showed anti-sticking, self-cleaning, and oil/water-separating properties. This coating treatment without any F, Cl, Br, P elements involved is regarded as a clean methodology for producing flame retardant and superhydrophobic cotton fabrics. [Display omitted] • The macro-nano rough structure was constructed by phase-separated chitosan. • The coating has no F, Cl, Br, P elements. • The treated cotton fabric with only 5.8 wt% coating was self-extinguishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• By foam finishing with sodium polyborate, cotton fabric obtains good flame retardancy and maintains softness and breathability. • The flame retardant does not involve Cl or P-containing chemicals. • Foam finishing consume lower water or solvent than dip-padding finishing. The conventional process of imparting flame retardancy to cotton fabrics requires the consumption of large amounts of water, chemicals, and energy, which usually involves halogen-containing and phosphorus-containing chemicals. In this work, an eco-friendly sodium polyborate (SPB) foam was creatively introduced onto the cotton fabric surface by a bladed coater to improve the fire resistant performance. For the cotton sample with only 6.7% weight gain (WG) of SPB coating, the LOI value of cotton fabric (SPB treated cotton-1) was enhanced to 32.6% from 18.5%, the damaged length was decreased to 5.7 cm, and the sample self-extinguished in the vertical burning test. The peak of heat release rate value, total heat release value, and total smoke production (TSP) value decreased by 87.0%, 72.7%, and 22.2% respectively compared with those of the control sample. The TSP was further decreased by 80.6% when the WG of SPB was 16.7%. Besides, the SPB treated cotton showed enhanced antibacterial activities against S.aureus and E.coli. Particularly worth mentioning is in the SPB foam finishing procedure, no organic solvent and P or Cl-containing chemicals were involved, and the processing time was only around 3 min with obviously reduced water consumption, compared with dip-padding finishing. More importantly, SPB treated cotton kept good softness, whiteness, water vapor permeability, and air permeability. The SPB foam finishing in this work shows considerable potential in realize good flame retardancy on cotton fabrics by eco-friendly and high-efficient strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • An eco-friendly coating was prepared by PA-induced polymerization and dipping with AgNWs. • The coated blend fabrics displayed excellent EMI shielding performance. • The coating imparted blend fabrics with antibacterial properties. • The coating maintained a suitable surface temperature for blend fabrics. • The phosphorus-nitrogen synergistic effect improved the flame retardancy of the coating. The functional flexible wearable textiles have a broad application prospect in many areas. However, considering the physical and chemical effects among various additives, it is still a big challenge to prepare wearable fabrics with a balance between different properties. Herein, an eco-friendly and multifunctional nylon/cotton blend fabric was constructed by phytic acid (PA)-induced polymerization of polypyrrole on the surface, followed by dip coating with silver nanowires (AgNWs). A high electrical conductivity of the treated blend fabrics (61 S·m−1) was obtained contributed to the excellent EMI shielding performance of nylon/cotton blend fabric (X-band ∼ 38.8 dB). Meanwhile, the coating maintained the surface temperature of the fabric within a suitable range, resulting in achieving the efficient thermal management. Furthermore, the treated nylon/cotton blends achieved a remarkable reduction (83.3 % and 81.7 %) of peak heat release rate and total smoke production compared to that of the control nylon/cotton blends. In addition, the considerable antibacterial property against E. coli and S. aureus was also realized. The successful application of this simple and eco-friendly method offered the possibility of preparing safer and more versatile wearable smart textiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Bio-based lentinan (LNT) and ammonium phytate (APA) were introduced onto cotton fabric. • The flame retardancy of cotton fabric was significantly enhanced by the presence of APA and LNT. • The LNT outer layer improved the thermostability, durability, and breaking force of the APA-treated cotton fabric. As the most widely used natural fabric, cotton fabric is highly flammable with serious fire hazard concerns. The use of biomass materials to impart flame resistance to fabrics is always a hot topic of interest. In this work, a novel durable flame retardant cotton fabric (Cotton-APA/LNT) was fabricated by successively covalent bonding ammonium phytate (APA) and lentinan (LNT). The Cotton-APA/LNT fabric sample had a highly limiting oxygen index (LOI) value of 51.5 % and was self-extinguished in the vertical burning test (VBT) at 18.0 % weight gain. The peak heat release rate and total heat release values were decreased by 91.5 % and 46.0 %, respectively compared with those of the control cotton. Besides, after 50 laundering cycles (LCs), the fabric was still self-extinguished in the VBT with an LOI value of 34.2 %. APA fully strengthened the role of acid source by the presence of LNT. The constructed LNT outer layer showed comprehensive improvements in thermostability, flame retardancy, smoke suppression, durability, and breaking force. Specifically, the Cotton-APA/LNT sample had a higher LOI value (↑4.3 %), lower total heat release (↓23.8 %), lower total smoke production (↓29.1 %), higher thermostability (↑27 °C under air), better char formation ability (↑2.0 % under air), higher durability (self-extinguished in the VBT after 50 LCs), and higher breaking force (↑32.5 % in the warp direction and ↑33.9 % in the weft direction) compared with those of Cotton-APA sample. This work has proposed an advanced approach for fabricating eco-friendly durable fire-safety cotton fabrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing requirements of eco-friendly flame retardant fabrics, fully bio-based flame retardants have attracted more and more attention. In this work, a fully bio-based flame retardant coating (PALC) was prepared by combining phytic acid and L-cysteine through ion exchange, which was then applied to nylon-cotton blends. The water contact angle (WCA) test indicates that the hydrophilicity of treated blend fabrics is significantly increased. The treated blend fabrics also exhibited excellent antibacterial property against E. coli and S. aureus. Besides, the limiting oxygen index (LOI) value of the treated blend fabric is increased to 27.2 % from 19.3 %, and the damage length is reduced to 5 cm from 30 cm. The analysis of cone calorimetry test results demonstrates that the total heat release (THR) and peak heat release rate (pHRR) values of the treated blend fabric are reduced by 62.6 % and 65.4 %, respectively, relative to CO/NY. At the same time, the PALC coating can also endow the blend fabric with smoke suppression properties. The total smoke production (TSP) and smoke production rate (SPR) values are reduced by 64.5 % and 67.6 %, respectively. The combination analysis of TG-FTIR, SEM and XPS proves that the phytic acid promotes the dense char layers forming, and L-cysteine generates non-combustible gases. This work provides an eco-friendly and organic solvent-free method for producing flame-retardant nylon/cotton blends with reduced smoke release. [Display omitted] • An organic solvent-free coating PALC was developed from phytic acid and L-cysteine. • PALC coating improved the fire performance of nylon/cotton blend fabrics. • PALC coating increased the hydrophilicity of nylon/cotton blend fabrics. • PALC treated nylon/cotton blend fabrics showed antibacterial property. • PALC acted in both gas-phase and condensed-phase during the combustion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Formaldehyde-free durable flame-retardant cotton fabrics were prepared. • The fabric had an LOI of 35.3% and was self-extinguishing after 300 washing cycles. • The durability was reinforced by the interface polymerization of PEI and TMC. Due to fire hazards and environmental concerns, considerable attention has been paid to the design of durable flame retardant fabrics. In this work, a formaldehyde-free flame retardant cotton fabric (Cotton-PEI/APP-TMC) with ultra washing durability was prepared via covalent bonding of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) followed by the interface polymerization between PEI and trimesoyl chloride (TMC). The prepared fabric exhibited excellent flame retardancy with a limiting oxygen index value (LOI) of 42.0 % and a damaged length of less than 40 mm in the vertical flammability test (VFT). Besides, the cotton-PEI/APP-TMC sample was not ignited in the 50 kW/m2 cone calorimeter test with a dramatic decrease in both the peak heat release rate and total heat release. Even after 300 washing cycles, the cotton-PEI/APP-TMC sample had an LOI value of 35.3 % and was still self-extinguishing in VFT. It was demonstrated that the interface polymerization between PEI and TMC stabilized the flame retardant coating and shielded the Na+ during washing cycles, which endowed the fabric with durable flame retardancy. It is expected this work paves a promising application prospect for the fabrication of bio-safe durable flame retardant cotton fabrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strategy to achieve flame retardancy, smoke suppression, and filtering capability simultaneously for the cotton fabrics was proposed. The cotton fabric sample was firstly treated with a polydopamine (PDA) solution through a dip-nip process, then the layered double hydroxides (LDH) were vertically introduced on the fabric surface before depositing Fe3+ chelated with phytic acid (PA). The obtained Cotton-PDA-LDH-Fe3+PA sample exhibited excellent flame retardancy and smoke suppression. The limiting oxygen index of the treated cotton sample reached 33.9%. For the Cotton-PDA-LDH-Fe3+PA sample, the total heat release was dropped to only 1.9 MJ/m2 from 8.7 MJ/m2 of the control cotton fabric sample, and the total smoke production was decreased from 138.9 m2/m2 to 68.1 m2/m2. The Cotton-PDA-LDH-Fe3+PA sample showed excellent ability of filtering particulate matter with a filtration efficiency of 91%. It is expected that this work provides a useful method to produce superior multi-functional cotton fabrics [Display omitted] • Cotton fabric achieves flame retardant, smoke suppression and PMs filter by a compound coating. • Phytic acid/polydopamine is efficient and bio-safe synergistic flame retardants of cotton fabric. • Directionally-grew layered double hydroxides on cotton fabric suppress smoke in burning. • The chelated Fe3+ ions work with LDHs together to capture PMs durably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An organic-inorganic hybrid coating was constructed on T/C fabrics. • The hybrid coating improved greatly the flame retardancy of T/C fabrics. • The coated fabrics showed antibacterial property against S. aureus and E. coli. • The flame retardant and antibacterial mechanism was proposed. In this work, an organic-inorganic hybrid coating was used to improve the fire safety and antibacterial property of polyester/cotton blend fabrics. The hybrid coating was constructed by two steps, including the in-situ growth of zirconium phosphate nanosheets, and the preparation of polyelectrolyte complex with phytic acid and poly(hexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride) via spraying method. The flame retardancy and antibacterial activity of treated fabrics were completely investigated. A self-extinguishing behavior was observed in vertical burning test and the damaged length was only 5.4 cm. The LOI value of treated fabrics was increased from 19.0% of pristine fabrics to 27.8%, and the peak heat release rate and total heat release were decreased by 42% and 27%, respectively. Besides, thermogravimetric analysis revealed that the char residue increased from 8.3% to 26.3% at 800 °C, confirming a great char-forming ability of coated fabrics. Tensile strength test indicates that the introduction of coating had no seriously damage to the mechanical properties of fabric. Moreover, an excellent antibacterial property of treated fabrics was proved by using agar diffusion method. This research provides an environmentally friendly path for the flame retardant and antibacterial modification of polyester/cotton blend fabrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]