Synergistic effects of mineralized networks and functionalized molybdenum disulfide in a cellulose nonwoven composite for integrated mechanical, photothermal, and antibacterial performance

In recent years, smart cellulosic nonwovens have emerged as a research hotspot due to their multifunctional integration capabilities. In this study, a multifunctional composite material (CNs-CaCO 3 -MoS 2 @TA) was fabricated through a stepwise fabrication process. First, tannic acid (TA) was employed to mediate the effective exfoliation of molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) into nanosheets (MoS 2 @TA). Subsequently, calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) and the functionalized MoS 2 @TA nanosheets were successively integrated onto a cellulose nonwoven (CNs) substrate. Mechanical characterization revealed a significant enhancement in material strength compared to pure CNs, attributed to the synergistic effects between the interlayer-slip toughening mechanism of MoS 2 @TA and the rigid reinforcement provided by CaCO 3 . For photothermal conversion, the composite exhibited rapid heating characteristics under simulated sunlight, maintaining a surface temperature of 90 °C with excellent stability. This result benefits from the efficient combination of MoS 2 broadband light absorption and CaCO 3 light scattering effects. In addition, the CNs-CaCO 3 -MoS 2 @TA demonstrated 99.9% bactericidal efficiency against both E. coli and S. aureus through combined mechanisms including CaCO 3 -induced alkaline disruption, MoS 2 @TA-mediated photocatalytic ROS generation, and sharp nanosheet edge-induced physical membrane damages. These findings not only provide novel strategies for developing high-performance cellulose-based composites, but also open new avenues for smart nonwovens applications in medical and energy fields