Fabrication of Anti-biofouling Cotton Fabrics to Improve Personal Hygiene

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Cotton fabric is a natural polymer material commonly used in hospital and food industries, for example, gowns, gloves, aprons, and face masks. In this work, trichloro(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl)silane and nanoscale fumed silica is used to manufacture fluorinated-silica nanoparticles (FSNs). The dip-coating method is used to provide anti-biofouling and bacterial cross-contamination protection on the cotton fabric surface. The presence of FSNs on the coated cotton fabric sample surface was confirmed by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (e.g., –CF₃ peak) and the images of scanning electron microscope (e.g., roughness). The water contact angle measurements show high water contact angle (i.e., ＞150°, superhydrophobic). The cotton fabric sample with biofouling-resistant surfaces show a significant reduction in biological contaminants (e.g., virus, bacteria, protein, blood, and fungi) adhesion, which can potentially improve personal hygiene.