Robust ultraviolet blocking cotton fabric modified with chitosan/graphene nanocomposites Mingwei Tian a,b,c,1 , Xiaoning Tang a,b,1 , Lijun Qu a,b,c,n , Shifeng Zhu a,b , Xiaoqing Guo a,b,c , Guangting Han b,c a College of Textiles, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China b Laboratory of New Fiber Materials and ModernTextile, The Growing Base for State Key Laboratory, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China c Collaborative Innovation Center for Marine Biomass Fibers, Materials and Textiles of Shandong Province, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China article info Article history: Received 1 January 2015 Accepted 28 January 2015 Available online 7 February 2015 Keywords: Graphene Chitosan UV blocking fabric Nanocomposites Functional abstract To ameliorate the ultraviolet blocking performance of cotton fabric, novel chitosan/graphene (0.1–1 wt%) nanocomposites were prepared as functional UV blocker, and then deposited on the surface of fabric substrate via a pad-dry-cure approach. The as-obtained fabrics were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) of the fabric incorporating graphene 1 wt% could reach to 465.8, up to 60-fold higher than that of pristine cotton fabric (UPF 7.31), meaning that low graphene content ( o1 wt%) could dramatically enhance the UV-blocking property of substrate with the aid of chitosan as dispersant. Furthermore, the treated cotton fabric also performed excellent washing durability after 10 times water laundering. Chitosan/graphene nanocomposites could be recommended as the remarkable efficient and durable UV-blocking additive for UV-blocking industrial applications. & 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Graphene, as the basic structural element of carbon allotropes, has dramatically attracted a great deal of interest in recent years [1]; its unique virtually single layer of carbon atoms two-dimensional struc- ture endowed some exceptional properties and magical performance [2]. Recently, some researchers have been carried out to attempt to exploit the potential application of graphene in textile field [3–5]. For instance, Molina et al. [3] obtained conductive graphene coated fabric by readily dipping polyester fabric into graphene oxide (GO) dispersion. Shateri-Khalilabad and Yazdanshenas [4] fabricated the superhydro- phobic and electroconductive fabric coating with reduced graphene oxide by chemical oxidation reduction. These previous research only deposited graphene on fabric surface by readily mechanical binding methods which could not effectively and durably graft the graphene on the fabric; furthermore, graphene had a pronounced tendency to irre- versible aggregation during the preparation process, leading to signi- ficantly attenuate functional performance of graphene. Based on above analysis, combining reasonable dispersants with graphene could be viewed as the effective and facile route to improve the distribution conditions and durable period of graphene on the fabrics surface. Chitosan (CS), owing to excellent biodegradability and biocompatibility, has attracted signi ficant attention in a broad range of applications [6]; meanwhile, chitosan based materials have also been investigated in the application of super-hydrophobic, antibacterial and electrical conduc- tive textiles [7–9]. Here, in this paper, chitosan was employed as the dispersant and binding additive of graphene to form a homogenous nanocomposite system; therefore, graphene could uniformly and individually disperse in chitosan matrix; afterwards, the cotton fabrics were functionalized with the aid of chitosan/graphene nanocomposites and exhibited robust UV blocking performance. 2. Experimental Graphene nanosheet (GNS) with thickness (1–3 nm) and size (20–25 μm) was supplied by Ningbo Moxi Science and Technology, China; GNS was stably dispersed in aqueous solution with 20 mg/mL. Chitosan (degree of deacetylation 93%, average molecular weight (MW) 125,000 g/mol) was kindly donated by Qingdao JiFa Group, China; acetic acid (CH 3 COOH) was supplied by National Medicine Group, China. Commercial cotton fabric (plain woven, 160 g/m 2 ) was used as the fabric substrate. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matlet Materials Letters http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2015.01.147 0167-577X/& 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author at: College of Textiles, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China. E-mail address: profqu@126.com (L. Qu). 1 These authors equally contributed to this work. Materials Letters 145 (2015) 340–343