Quickly UV-curing protective coating for cotton fabrics

In order to eliminate the numerous limitations in application of cotton fibers, we designed and made a protective coating that changes many features of these material (such as water repellency or reducing the rate of thermal degradation), but does not change its natural flexibility and macroscopic appearance. The coating we developed consists a UV-crosslinked polysiloxanes together with organophosphates. The coating preparation process takes only a few minutes and takes place easily at room temperature. Even a very subtle layer of such a coating makes the fabric highly hydrophobic, and with greater occupancy, it significantly slows down thermal degradation and reduces the flammability of fabrics. A very interesting phenomenon observed by us is also the fact that the thicker the coating layer, the worse hydrophobic properties have been observed. The resulting coating is resistant to washing with both clean water and water with detergents.