Preparation and Properties of Functional Fabric Coating Based on SiO2-aerogel/Polyurethane

The silane coupling agent modified SiO 2 particles, multi aperture silica aerogel and waterborne polyurethane acrylate (WPUA) were blended to produce resin coated fabrics with good thermal stability, to achieve excellent water repellency and a certain protective property. The thermal stability and water repellency of ordinary cotton could be improved by the hydrophobic SiO 2 particles, WPUA and silica aerogel (SA) powders on the fabric surface. Our experimental results illustrated that the thermal stability of the coated fabric was greatly improved by adding aerogels and silane modified SiO 2 , and the amount of residual carbon increased significantly at 600 °C as the corresponding residues of SA/WPUA coated fabric finally could be 13.19%. The water contact angle of the fabric was obviously increased after the silane modified SiO 2 particles mixed with SA/WPUA. It was found that the more aerogel added, the larger the contact angle was, and the contact angel reached about 120° when the aerogel was 4 wt%. It could be proved that the coated fabric had a certain surface self-cleaning effect. The tensile tests characterized that the stress of the coated fabric reached the maximum value of 64 MPa when the aerogel dosage was 2 wt%. Chemical resistance analysis suggested that the fabric had similar chemical resistance after the integration of porous aerogel particles. However, unlike most polyurethane coatings, the majority of chemicals were adsorbed in aerogel coatings. The infrared spectrum of the coating samples showed that the coating surface was stable, which was attributed to the interfacial adhesion between cotton fiber and polyurethane adhesive. The appearance of aerogel and SiO 2 particles dispersed on the fabric surface was analyzed by SEM. All outcomes indicated a significant improvement in general properties of WPUA coatings by adding a handful of silica aerogel (0.5–4 wt%).