Heat-shedding TiO₂/VAE Nanocoating Formulation for Advanced self-cleaning and Coolant Fabrics

High-temperature environments pose significant risks to human health and safety. That is why, these days, textile industries pay great attention to produce multifunctional fabrics. However, reports reveal that these fabrics are prepared with silane derivates, along with gold or silver, which makes them expensive with poor self-cleaning properties. Likely, organic--inorganic nanocomposites represent a new class of materials imparted due to their novel properties and low cost. Herein, we reported a commercially affordable SiO₂/TiO₂@Vinylacetate-ethylene (VAE) formulation for functionalizing fabric. The TiO₂-VAE hybrids were prepared by a ball milling-assisted sol--gel technique and imparted onto the bare fabrics via dip-coating. By taking a different amount of the polymer, the structural property and performance of the composite are optimized and characterized. XRD revealed the incorporation of rutile-TiO₂ on the fabric which has a cellulose I structure. In addition, ATR-FTIR confirmed the covalent interactions between the nano-SiO₂/TiO₂ and cellulose of the cloth without any chemical deterioration of thefunctional groups. In addition, SEM revealed that, unlike the bare cloth, it was composed of a plain surface with a woven network of cellulose fibrils with a thickness of 40 to 50µm, and TiO₂/VAE encompassed multi-thin layers where TiO₂ nanoparticles are immobilized on the surface of the functionalized cotton fibers. EDAX confirmed the presence of carbon, oxygen, titanium, and silicon, which are homogeneously distributed over the cloth surface. Interestingly, the hybrid coated fabric demonstrated a superior reflectance, at 91%, to the bare fabric, which recorded the least NIR reflectance at 73%. Furthermore, the imparted fabric displayed an excellent catalytic self-cleaning ability by the complete removal of methylene blue within 3 hours of sunlight illumination. Incorporating photocatalyst TiO₂ nanoparticles not only enhances UV shielding, but also offers a new self-cleaning character by absorbing sunlight. Thus, in fabric surface engineering, such a simple nanoformulation preparation technique paves the way for practical mitigation of global warming.