Hot–Dog Structured Protective Nanocoating for Multifunctional Cotton Fabric Through Spray Assisted Layer–by–Layer Assembly

Abstract Multifunctional cotton fabric was preparation by low–cost and environmental–friendly spray–assisted layer–by–layer assembly to achieve simultaneously excellent self–extinguishing ability, antistatic property and antimicrobial activity. Especially, a novel hot–dog structured protective coating was designed through introducing polyaniline nanofibers into graphene nanosheets, which can exhibit unique structural advantages and give full play to the compound synergetic effect. More clearly, 3–aminopropyl triethoxysilane, ammonium polyphosphate and polyaniline were selected for phosphorus–silicon–nitrogen synergism in the assembled layer, while PANI nanofibers doped with various organic acids were penetrated into the graphene nanosheets for constructing more stable and efficient protective space. The optimized coated fabric exhibited the excellent self–extinguishing ability for 5 composite layers including phytic acid doped nanofiber, and a significantly enhanced LOI to 35.1 % from 18.1 % for neat cotton fabrics. Moreover, the peak heat release rate and the total heat release values were significantly declined by 78.3 % and 49.0 %, respectively. Furthermore, a low sheet resistance of 264.7 kΩ/sq for antistatic property, as well as remarkable growth inhibition of E. coli and S. aureus can be achieved. In addition, the fabrics also displayed the good washing durability. Therefore, such eco–friendly and facile large–scale fabrication approach has great potentials in application for multifunctional advanced textiles and could be employed to various other cellulose fibers.