Medical textiles have a need for repellency to body fluids such as blood, urine, or sweat that may contain infectious vectors that contaminate surfaces and spread to other individuals. Similarly, viral repellency has yet to be demonstrated and longterm mechanical durability is a major challenge. In this work, we demonstrate a simple, durable, and scalable coating on nonwoven polypropylene textile that is both superhemophobic and antivirofouling. The treatment consists of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) nanoparticles in a solvent thermally sintered to polypropylene (PP) microfibers, which creates a robust, lowsurface-energy, multilayer, and multilength scale rough surface. The treated textiles demonstrate a static contact angle of 158.3 ± 2.6°a nd hysteresis of 4.7 ± 1.7°for fetal bovine serum and reduce serum protein adhesion by 89.7 ± 7.3% (0.99 log). The coated textiles reduce the attachment of adenovirus type 4 and 7a virions by 99.2 ± 0.2% and 97.6 ± 0.1% (2.10 and 1.62 log), respectively, compared to noncoated controls. The treated textiles provide these repellencies by maintaining a Cassie−Baxter state of wetting where the surface area in contact with liquids is reduced by an estimated 350 times (2.54 log) compared to control textiles. Moreover, the treated textiles exhibit unprecedented mechanical durability, maintaining their liquid, protein, and viral repellency after extensive and harsh abrasion and washing. The multilayer, multilength scale roughness provides for mechanical durability through self-similarity, and the samples have high-pressure stability with a breakthrough pressure of about 255 kPa. These properties highlight the potential of durable, repellent coatings for medical gowning, scrubs, or other hygiene textile applications.

Bio-inspiration and advances in micro/nanomanufacturing processes have enabled the design and fabrication of micro/nanostructures on optoelectronic substrates and barrier layers to create a variety of functionalities. In this review article, we summarize research progress in multifunctional transparent substrates and barrier layers while discussing future challenges and prospects. We discuss different optoelectronic device configurations, sources of bio-inspiration, photon management properties, wetting properties, multifunctionality, functionality durability, and device durability, as well as choice of materials for optoelectronic substrates and barrier layers. These engineered surfaces may be used for various optoelectronic devices such as touch panels, solar modules, displays, and mobile devices in traditional rigid forms as well as emerging flexible versions.

This work demonstrates a coal-derived functionalized nano-graphene oxide coating applied to fabrics that exhibits antiviral properties even after mechanical abrasion or bleach washing. Nano-graphene oxide is chemically exfoliated from low cost coal and functionalized with octadecylamine to render repellency properties. The functionalized nano-graphene oxide is applied to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric after wet etching which roughens the microfiber surface for better coating adhesion and liquid repellency. An additional polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer on top of the functionalized nano-graphene oxide further improves the repellency and durability. The functionalized nano-graphene oxide/PDMS coating robustly repels droplets of water and human saliva. Additionally, we demonstrate antiviral properties with human adenovirus type 5 (HAdV5), herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), and betacoronavirus (CoV) even after mechanical abrasion and bleach washing. The coating reduces titers of HAdV5 by 1.8 log (98.6%), HSV-1 by 2.2 log (99.4%), and CoV by 2.4 log (99.6%). The coating may have applications in reusable, antiviral personal protective equipment or other large-area, high production coating applications.

No abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate the stain-resistance and high pressure stability of superomniphobic flexible optical plastics.