Facile fabrication of fluorine free zirconium zinc stearate based superhydrophobic and superoleophilic coating on cotton fabric with superior antibacterial property

A simple solution technique has been adopted to fabricate in situ generated zirconium zinc stearate based superhydrophobic and superoleophilic fluorine-free coating on cotton fabric with superior antibacterial and excellent photocatalytic properties. The materials properties of the specimen such as crystallinity/crystal phase, chemical bonding, surface morphology, and surface roughness have been characterized systematically. The coated cotton derived from an optimized precursor composition shows the retention of superhydrophobicity with static water contact angle ~163 degrees after several cycles of machine laundering and mechanical abrasion. It is seen that zirconium species may have caused an enhancement in laundering durability and mechanical robustness while hierarchical morphology of zinc stearate is responsible for acquiring superior antibacterial property along with self cleaning ability of the coating to make the coated fabric promising for real life application such as military uniform, biomedical clothing/devices. In addition, the coated cotton is found to be suitable for separation of oil from oil-water mixtures with high efficiency (~99%) even after 10 cycles of repeated use. Thus, the material can be used for separation of oil from oil-contaminated industrial wastewater/marine water. Moreover, AgBr modified superhydrophobic cotton fabric shows excellent photocatalytic activity towards degradation of organic dye. This facile process can be up-scaled for commercial use.