Durable flame retardant and antibacterial finishing on cotton fabrics with cyclotriphosphazene/polydopamine/silver nanoparticles hybrid coatings

Durable flame retardant and antibacterial hybrid coatings were developed for cotton fabrics via simultaneous polymerization of dopamine and hydrolytic condensation of N3P3[NH(CH2)(3)Si(OC2H5)(3)](6). Silver nanoparticles were also introduced to the coatings by in situ reaction of AgNO3 with catechol moieties on polydopamine (PDA) in the absence of any external reducing agents. Energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to study the morphology and constitution of the coatings. Thermal stability and combustion behaviors were characterized with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and vertical flammability tests. Considerable flame retardancy was obtained for the modified cotton fabrics, which also exhibited decent antibacterial activities (99.99%) against Gram-positive bacteria S. aureus and Gram-negative bacteria E. coli. The modification was durable with largely intact flame retardancy and antimicrobial properties after 30 washing cycles. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.