Cotton Fabric Coating by rGO and Polymethylsiloxane Layer with Antibacterial, Hydrophobic and Photothermal Properties

Abstract

The cotton fabric, which is widely used as personal protective equipment, is vulnerable to droplets that may contain pathogens. Thus, the functionalization of cotton fabric is usually carried out to get the desired properties. Graphene-based materials have some interesting properties like hydrophobic, photothermal, and antibacterial properties that can be used to modify cotton fabric. This research has made a cotton fabric coated with graphene from coconut shells and polymethyl siloxane. Graphite was obtained from burning coconut shells, and the modified Hummers method was used to get a graphene oxide solution (GO). A graphene oxide layer on cotton fabrics was added by the dip-pad-dry process, followed by reduction using ascorbic acid to produce a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and immersion of cotton fabrics with methyl trichlorosilane in n-hexane to produce a polymethyl siloxane (PMS) layer. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) are used to determine the morphology and functional groups in rGO-PMS-coated cotton fabric. Contact angle measurements to determine the hydrophobicity of the rGO-PMS-coated cotton fabric, which exhibits hydrophobic properties with a contact angle of 146.3 °, which can show self-cleaning ability while preventing water droplets from entering the fabric. Antibacterial activity was carried out using the disc diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus and delivered a good result. The rGO-PMS-coated cotton fabric also shows photothermal capability when irradiated with infrared lamps.