New superhydrophobic and self-cleaning zirconia/polydimethylsiloxane nanocomposite coated cotton fabrics

Abstract

In this study, coated cotton fabrics were fabricated from modified zirconia nanoparticles (mZrO₂NPs) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). To study the stability, self-cleaning and oil–water separation properties of coated fabrics as superhydrophobic substrates, variants of this coating were also synthesized by varying the concentrations of mZrO₂NPs and PDMS contents. The present study reports a new nonfluorinated fabrication route for preparing modified zirconia/PDMS nanocomposite coated fabrics for durable multifunctional applications, including reduced wetting, self-cleaning and oil–water separation. Their surface properties and tendencies toward these multifunctional applications are ascribed to their nanopatterned surface morphologies, nanoporous roughness and low surface energy methyl-bound polysiloxane chemical groups on the cotton fabrics. Experimental results reveal consistent influence of PDMS and mZrO₂NPs contents on surface wettability up to optimal concentrations. The coated fabrics in this study demonstrated significant superhydrophobicity at values of static aqueous contact more than 150° and sliding hysteresis angle less than 5°. The coated fabric with the optimal performance also exhibited significant resistance against chemical and thermal oxidation resistance. It also retained a separation efficiency over 91% for chloroform–water and toluene–water mixtures.