Superhydrophobic and self-cleaning fabric mimicking the lotus effect: two-layer functional coating based on silver nanoprisms and fluorosilane

This work demonstrates a facile and scalable biomimetic strategy to engineer superhydrophobic and self-cleaning cotton fabric by mimicking the dual-scale structure of the lotus leaf. A two-layer functional coating is constructed through a sequential dip-coating process: first, a low-surface-energy layer is applied using a fluorosilane (PFOTES), followed by the adhesion of synthetized silver nanoprisms (Ag NPRs) to create hierarchical micro-nano roughness. The resulting composite fabric (AgNPs/F@Cotton) achieves exceptional superhydrophobicity, with a static water contact angle of 162° ± 2°, transitioning the surface from highly hydrophilic to a robust Cassie-Baxter state. The coating exhibits excellent passive self-cleaning performance, efficiently removing hydrophobic contaminant particles via rolling water droplets. Beyond replicating the lotus effect, the incorporation of plasmonic Ag NPRs introduces potential for light-activated functionalities such as photocatalytic degradation and antimicrobial activity, which are implied by the distinct localized surface plasmon resonance signature of the nanoprisms. This solution-based, low-temperature approach offers a promising pathway for developing multifunctional technical textiles for applications in protective clothing, medical fabrics, and filtration systems.

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