Flame retardant, antistatic cotton fabrics crafted by layer-by-layer assembly

In order to endow cotton fabrics with flame retardancy and antistatic properties, graphene, casein, and ammonium polyphosphate were deposited on their surface via layer-by-layer assembly. As-prepared cotton fabrics were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Meanwhile, the flame retardancy and antistatic property of cotton fabrics were investigated in detail. The limiting oxygen index of as-crafted cotton fabrics increased from 18.0% to 23.6%. The antistatic property of the coated cotton fabrics can be proved by its lower (4.974 × 104) surface resistance than that of pristine ones (1.011 × 1010). This work provides a new understanding for the design and development of novel and large-scale fabrication of multifunctional cotton fabrics.