Enhanced washing durability of electroconductive Ti3C2TX MXenes on cotton fabric using various protective coatings

The incorporation of electroconductive compounds onto the textiles' surfaces leads to the fabrication of flexible electronic textiles (e-textiles) for numerous application fields, i.e., sport, medical, protective, fashion, military, etc.Their long-term functionality during daily usage depends on the sufficient durability of applied electroconductive compounds against washing, which can be significantly improved by the employment of protective layers.Thus, this study investigated the efficacy of different coatings for the protection of Ti3C2Tx MXenes dip-coated onto cotton fabric against laundering without essentially influencing fabrics' electroconductive properties.Two Mxene-functionalised samples were protected with three different compounds, i.e., modified acrylate resin (MAR), waterborne polyurethane resin (WPR) and biantennary oligoglycine peptide (tectomer -2 tailed) utilising spray-coating, dip-coating and impregnation procedures, respectively.MXene-functionalised/protected samples were washed up to 20 washing cycles and characterised by the determination of their electrical resistance, mass loss, changes in surface morphologies, water contact angle and optical properties.Based on these results, WPR provided the most suitable protection of MXenes on cotton fabric, followed by MAR, balancing high conductivity with long-term stability.Tectomer is not recommended for MXene protection due to its low durable performance against harsh washing conditions.