Robust Superhydrophobic Composite Fabric with Self‐Healing and Chemical Durability
Jing Tao, Yuanfa Liu, Minghan Li, Zheng Li, Yihang Zhang, Xuecui Song, Qiang Yang, Fucheng Guan, Jing Guo
Abstract
Abstract Superhydrophobic fabrics with multiple functions have become a research hotspot. However, it is challenging to make self‐healing mechanically robust and eco‐friendly superhydrophobic fabrics, which are limited by complex fabrication processes and excessive use of environmentally unfriendly solvents during fabrication. Herein, inspired by the secretion of a waxy substance from the surface of lotus leaves to restore water repellency, self‐healing superhydrophobic composite fabrics (as‐synthesized PA66/6‐PET@Tico) are obtained by constructing a papillary TiO 2 and tentacle‐like fluorinated acrylate polymer (FCB015) coating on polyester‐nylon composite fabrics using two‐step hydrothermal method. The result indicates that PA66/6‐PET@Tico with hierarchical micro/nanostructure exhibits excellent superhydrophobic and self‐healing properties. Compared with FCB015 coated fabric, the contact angles (CA) of water and soybean oil rise to 172.2° and 166.8° from 137.4° and 98.8°, respectively. After mechanical abrasion, PA66/6‐PET@Tico recovers a water contact angle (WCA) of 165.6° at room temperature. The WCA remains higher than 155° after 18 h of chemical corrosion. Furthermore, the bacterial inhibition rates of PA66/6‐PET@Tico for Staphylococcus Aureus and Escherichia Coli are 99.90 and 98.38%, respectively. In this work, a new idea is proposed for designing a simple and effective self‐healing superhydrophobic coating, expecting to promote the large‐scale industrial production and application of functional surfaces.