Interfacial engineering of cellulose fabrics via coupling diazonium chemistry and MOF assembly for multifunctional applications

Cellulose-based fabrics are ubiquitous in daily life due to their processability, biodegradability, and flexibility. Integrating cellulose-based fabrics with functional coatings can release their potential functions to participate in various applications. However, the large-scale production of multifunctional fabrics still remains a great challenge. Herein, a multifunctional superhydrophobic hemp fabric (HF) with integrated antibacterial, fluorescent, UV-blocking, self-cleaning, and oil-water separation capabilities was fabricated via an effective interfacial engineering strategy based on diazonium chemistry and MOF assembly. The HF surface was grafted with a polymer layer of benzoic acid via diazonium chemistry, which provided abundant active sites of carboxy group to effectively anchor Ce-MOF. A dense hierarchical morphology was constructed on HF by in-situ growth of Ce-MOF, and a large number of pores were generated by self-assembly, which could be used to load berberine (Ber) and then modified with stearic acid to prepare superhydrophobic fabric. The water contact angle of the modified HF is as high as 154°, and it has good self-cleaning performance. The oil-water separation efficiency of the modified fabric is remarkable (97%), and it can effectively separate light and heavy oil from water. The modified fabric exhibits excellent UV-blocking performance with a high UPF of 70.2. Encouragingly, Ber also endows HF with excellent antibacterial and fluorescence properties. Encouragingly, the tensile strength of HF was not significantly affected. This study not only focuses on the materials design and large-scale fabrication but also provides multifunctional hemp fabrics with broad application prospects for many fields.