The nickel ferrite@polyaniline/polyimide (NiFe2O4@PANI/PI) fabric was prepared by coating the PI fabric with core–shell NiFe2O4@PANI nanoparticles to obtain an excellent microwave absorption performance. Firstly, a microwave absorbing agent was fabricated by dispersing the pre-synthesized core–shell NiFe2O4@PANI nanoparticles into epoxy monomer, in which the covalent bonding between epoxy groups and amine groups from PANI made them uniformly disperse. Then the agent was coated on to the PI fabric to a thickness of 0.12 mm. The results of field effect-transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy demonstrated the core–shell structure of NiFe2O4@PANI and the composite structure of the NiFe2O4@PANI/PI fabric. The resultant fabric possessed a high microwave attenuation property with a minimum reflection loss value of −19.2 dB (>90% attenuation) at 16.1 GHz and the effective absorption bandwidth was 5.1 GHz. This high performance was attributed to the uniform dispersion of core–shell NiFe2O4@PANI nanoparticles, better impedance matching and intensive synergistic effect between dielectric loss caused by the PANI shell and magnetic loss from the NiFe2O4 core. The favorable flexibility, processability and high tensile properties gave the composite fabric a long service time under pressure or foldable conditions. Furthermore, this process was environmentally friendly as no organic solvent was used in the whole process and the NiFe2O4@PANI/PI fabric could potentially be applied in microwave absorbing fields.

This research proposes a method based on thiol–epoxy click chemistry to achieve durable antibacterial properties on cotton fabrics. The cotton fabric was first modified with 3-mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane (KH-580) to introduce thiol groups. Then, cotton fabric was treated with a quaternary ammonium salt by thiol–epoxy click chemistry. The surface morphology of the treated fabrics and the reaction mechanism were confirmed by FTIR, EDS, and SEM. The antibacterial activity, dyeing performance, and mechanical properties of the treated cotton fabrics were also assessed. The E. coli antibacterial rate was about 99.44% and the S. aureus antibacterial rate was about 95.93%, with only a slight decrease after 30 cycles of washing, to 93.89% and 88.62%, respectively. The results demonstrated that this treatment effectively imparted the cotton fabric with durable antibacterial properties due to the chemical bonding formed between the quaternary ammonium salt and the substrate.

In this study, the non-halogenated organophosphorus flame retardant dimethyl-[1,3,5-(3,5-triacryloylhexahydro)triazinyl]-3-oxopropylphosphonate (DHTP) was synthesized and immobilized on cotton fabrics for a flame retardant finishing using click chemistry. The reaction and surface morphology were characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Excellent flame retardancy was obtained by the limited oxygen index (LOI) and vertical burning tests. Thermal, mechanical properties, and whiteness of the treated cotton fabric were also assessed. The results demonstrate that this treatment could impart cotton fabric with flame retardancy due to the chemical bond formed between the flame retardant agent and the substrate.

•The f-NiFe2O4/PANI/PI EMI shielding fabric was designed and prepared.•This fabric shows over 90% microwave attenuation and absorption band width of 3.4 GHz.•This fabric has favorable flexibility and mechanical property.In this work, a three-phase heterostructures f-NiFe2O4/PANI/PI EMI shielding fabric with a layer by layer structure was designed and prepared to obtain excellent microwave attenuation performance. Firstly, PANI/PI fabric was prepared via in-situ deposition method. Then, the NiFe2O4 nanoparticles functionalized by oleic acid were uniformly dispersed in epoxy resin and coated on the top and bottom of PANI/PI fabric with 0.041 mm total thickness. The investigation of chemical structure and surface morphologies indicated the composite structure of f-NiFe2O4/PANI/PI fabric. Various parameters like magnetic property, reflection loss and attenuation constant were used to evaluate its microwave attenuation performance. The results demonstrated that the 30f-NiFe2O4/PANI/PI fabric had a highest attenuation effectiveness with the minimum reflection loss value of −42.5 dB ( >90% attenuation) at 12.5 GHz and the effective absorption bandwidth was 3.4 GHz. The study of attenuation mechanism indicated that the dielectric loss from PANI, the magnetic loss caused by f-NiFe2O4 and the layer by layer structure effectively improved microwave attenuation performance of composite fabric. Furthermore, the favorable flexibility and dimensional stability of this resultant fabric would allow the composite fabric for a long time service under pressure or foldable conditions. In sum, the study clearly indicated that three-phase heterostructures f-NiFe2O4/PANI/PI fabric was a good candidate as electromagnetic shielding materials in many fields.Download high-res image (123KB)Download full-size image

Water-repellent finishing of cotton fabrics was carried out using fluorine-free functionalized silsesquioxanes. The modification was performed in two stages: (i) preparation of alkylfunctionalized silsesquioxanes bearing additional triethoxysilyl groups by way of a photochemical thiol-ene click reaction, and (ii) modification of the cotton fibers with these silsesquioxane derivatives. Different ratios of functional groups were investigated and compared with regard to their influence on hydrophobic properties. The hydrophobicity of the cotton fabric was evaluated using the water contact angle test (WCA). Changes in the surface morphology were examined by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. In addition, the elemental composition of the treated fabrics was analyzed by energy-dispersive spectroscopy. The most effective and durable derivatives appeared to be those containing four dodecyl groups and four triethoxysilyl groups. The treated surface with WCA of 146° and low roll-off angle (approaching the level of superhydrophobicity) demonstrated considerably higher durability after multiple standard washing cycles.

In this study, we successfully prepared conductive polyaniline (PANI) on a polypropylene (PP) plate to produce novel collecting electrodes for the removal of fine particles. The PANI/PP plates were assembled on an arrayed collector to produce high particle removal efficiency in an electrostatic precipitator. The PANI/PP plate was characterized using FT-IR spectroscopy, XRD, TG, SEM and EDS. The particle removal efficiency of the collecting plates can reach 90% for PM2.5. Furthermore, the effects of wind velocity, the space between the collecting plates and the surface resistance of the collecting electrodes, and the number of washing cycles on the particle removal efficiency were discussed.

•A facile method of preparing nano-silver conductive ink was proposed.•It was printed on cotton fabric when sintering at 60 °C for 30 min..•The highest conductivity is 2 × 10−5 Ω m with the silver content 30 wt%.Monodisperse silver nanoparticles conductive ink was successfully synthesized by in-situ synthesis method in an aqueous solution. The size distribution of the Ag nanoparticles was tested and the average diameter was within 10 nm. A spontaneous coalescence and sintering of Ag NPs at 60 °C for 30 min was realized in the presence of hydrogen chloride. The interface bonding between dispersant and silver nanoparticles was investigated by XRD and FTIR. The conductive ink doped with polyaniline has a good adhesion to cotton surface and better conductivity. The highest conductivity was 2 × 10−5 Ω m when the silver content was 30 wt.%. This prepared conductive ink could be printed on cotton fabric to form conductive circuits and the conductivity can remain at least 30 days. These promising results suggest applications of printed electronics devices using textiles as substrates.

•We propose a clean method to modify wool fabrics by click chemistry.•Step-growth dithiol-diacrylate reaction was used to increase the length of segment.•The treated fabrics show good antibacterial properties and hydrophilicity.This research proposes a novel surface modification method of keratin fibers by thiol-ene click reaction. In the first step, tris (2-carboxyethyl) phosphine hydrochloride (TCEP) was applied on wool samples to generate thiols by controlled reduction of cystine disulfide bonds in keratin. Then, as-prepared thiol-acrylate quaternary ammioum salt with divinyl terminated was grafted to the reduced keratin through thiol-ene click chemistry combining with a step-growth dithiol-diacrylate reaction. The reaction was confirmed by SEM, FTIR and TGA analysis. Antibacterial activity, antistatic property and hydrophilicity of treated wool fabric were assessed. The results demonstrated that the treatment can impart wool fabric with good antibacterial, antistatic properties and hydrophilicity.

In this study, we have successfully synthesized a gemini quaternary ammonium salt C24H38O4N2Br2 and applied it to wool fabric to obtain antibacterial properties. First, tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP) was utilized as a reducing agent to generate thiol groups on the surface of the wool fabric. Then, these thiol groups reacted with CC groups of the gemini quaternary ammonium salt via click chemistry. The structure of the as-prepared ionic dimethacrylate (IDMA) monomers was characterized using FT-IR spectroscopy, 1H-NMR analysis, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. The modified wool fabric exhibited good anti-bacterial properties against both E. coli and S. aureus. Furthermore, the modified fabric exhibits good antistatic properties and its mechanical properties are improved by the chemical bonds of the modification.

This paper proposes a facile way to fabricate PET fabrics with electromagnetic shielding effect and conductive properties through preparing autocatalytic carboxylic styrene butadiene latex film with catalyst PdCl2, and followed with copper electroless plating and silver electroplating. The influence of operating parameters on copper and silver complex plating was investigated. The copper-silver layer was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The rate of weight gain, deposition rate and layer adhesion strength were also analyzed. The results indicated that copper-silver complex layer formed on PET surface was imparted with good electrical conductivity, fine uniformity and high compactness.

•We propose a facile method to produce conductive aramid fiber.•Cross linked chitosan combined with Pd (II) ions to form catalytic film.•The silver-plated fiber has good conductivity.A novel method was developed to prepare silver-plated aramid fiber. Crosslinked chitosan (CS) with NH2 and OH functionalities was used as chelator to absorb palladium ions and formed a catalytical film on the fiber surface, which can successfully initiate silver deposition in the following electroless plating stage. Compared to conventional methods, sensitization process was eliminated and good conductivity as well as strong adhesion to metal layer was obtained, thanks to the chelating effect between chitosan and silver layer. SEM images indicate a dense and uniform silver coating was fabricated on the fiber surface. The electrical resistance of prepared fiber was as low as 0.38 Ω/cm, showing good conductivity. The durability of this aramid fiber is outstanding under harsh condition. These attractive features exhibited by this aramid fiber make it a potentially promising candidate for biomedical electronic field.

A class of novel fluorine containing core-shell hybrid latexes were obtained from soybean oil-based polyurethanes and poly(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate) (PTFEMA) by two-step synthesis under mild reaction conditions. Structural and morphology properties of the resulting hybrid latexs have been characterized by FT-IR and TEM. In addition, thermal properties (DSC, TGA) and coating performance (contact angle, stress-strain curve, and surface free energy) were investigated and discussed. The hybrid latexes exhibit outstanding thermal stability and coating performance. More importantly, through this method, low-valued foods are successfully transformed into high-valued functional materials which bring new solutions for preparing materials from renewable sources.