Preparing self-cleaning superhydrophobic fiber@POSS garment fabric by UV-curing-induced high surface roughness

Self-cleaning outdoor garment fabrics are desired. However, traditional fiber cloths made from cellulose show a poor antifouling property owing to surface hydrophilicity. In this work, fiber@poly(vinyl silsesquioxane) (POSS) fabric with self-cleaning trait and superhydrophobicity was fabricated via surface ultraviolet (UV) curing (UV-induced click reaction). Its surface micromorphology and elemental distribution were studied. Compared with pristine fiber cloth, POSS-modified fiber cloth can exhibit the superhydrophobic, nonstick, and antifouling traits. Superhydrophobicity of the modified cloth is ascribed to synergy between high surface roughness (cage-like POSS; crosslinked (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane; woven fibers) and low-surface energy (Si/-CH₂-). Self-cleaning property of modified cloth results from superhydrophobicity. After water/surface contact for 60 min, the static water contact angle of modified cloth surface can reach 158.7 ± 1.6°. Superhydrophobic durability of modified cloth reaches 120 h under acid/base/UV irradiation. After 100 abrasion cycles or 1 laundering cycle, the superhydrophobicity is maintained. The novelty of this work is a rapid UV-curing fabrication of self-cleaning POSS-modified fiber cloth. This work might open up a way for preparing advanced self-cleaning garment fabrics.