Designing Durable Multifunctional Cotton Fabrics through a Bio-Based Self-Healing Polyurethane Strategy

Abstract

The development of durable multifunctional cotton fabric with integrated water repellency, UV protection, and self-healing capability remains challenging due to insufficient environmental stability. Herein, a robust cotton fabric PU55Ti-6 was constructed through the synergistic incorporation of TiO2 nanoparticles and a bio-based self-healing polyurethane coating (PU-EuSi5–HEDS5). The resulting micro-nano structure and oleophilic–hydrophobic components enable excellent water repellency, self-cleaning behavior, and efficient oil/water separation. TiO2 nanoparticles together with eugenol-derived polyurethane provide strong UV protection via combined scattering and absorption effects. Dynamic disulfide bonds and phenol-carbamate within the polyurethane network enhance coating durability and impart self-healing capability, enabling recovery of water repellency of PU55Ti-6 after mechanical damage such as abrasion, peeling, and vigorous washing. The PU55Ti-6 also exhibits improved mechanical strength, thermal stability and UV protective capacity relative to pristine cotton even after thermal aging, outdoor exposure, and UV irradiation, demonstrating excellent environmental robustness. This work presents a simple and scalable strategy for designing durable multifunctional cotton fabric for long-term applications.