Air-permeable and flexible multifunctional cellulose-based textiles for bio-protection, thermal heating conversion, and electromagnetic interference shielding

Abstract

Air-permeable and flexible multifunctional textiles are highly desired for wearable electronics and portable device applications. However, fabricating textiles with novel multifunctionalities while maintaining their inherent porous and flexible characteristics still remains a challenge. Herein, a range of organic–inorganic hybrid materials were prepared via a surface engineering approach in an attempt to create air-permeable and flexible multifunctional cellulose-based textiles with superb bactericidal activities, thermal heating conversion, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performances. A highly conductive MXene was decorated onto polydopamine (PDA) modified cellulose nonwovens, followed by in situ polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). The resultant PGMA facilitated the covalent grafting of disinfecting agents and also protected the MXene from oxidation. The disinfecting agents, i.e., neomycin sulfate or guanidine-based polymer, made the textiles highly biocidal. The smart textile possesses an excellent bactericidal efficacy of >99.99% against both E. coli and S. aureus, exceptional heating performance (dual-driven energy conversion, fast thermal response, and a wide temperature range), and an outstanding EMI shielding efficiency of 38.6 dB in the X-band, while maintaining the satisfactory porosity and flexibility of green-based nonwovens. Evidently, such wearable multifunctional textiles are extremely promising for applications in bio-protection, thermal management, and EMI shielding, and are ideal candidates for future intelligent garments and healthcare devices.