Antibacterial fabric with contradictory functions of water repellency and absorbency realized by electrophoretic deposition of hydrophobic SiO2 and hydrophilic ZnO nanoparticles

Clothing and fabrics used in household and industrial applications can cause human-to-human cross-infection by residual bacteria attached to their surfaces. In particular, for fabrics used in the medical and healthcare sectors, it is vital to use highly antibacterial fabrics to prevent secondary infections caused by body fluids. In this work, antibacterial fabrics with strong water repellency were developed by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of zinc oxide (ZnO) and hydrophobic silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles. The top layer of hydrophobic SiO2 nanoparticles prevents direct adhesion of bacterial droplets, while the bottom layer of hydrophilic ZnO nanoparticles provides antibacterial properties against the residual bacteria on the fabric. As a result, the developed fabrics can simultaneously reduce droplet adhesion and bacteria viability, effectively lowering the risk of bacterial infection. The ability to express these opposing wettabilities can be achieved by our EPD process, which can deposit various nanoparticles in porous form using electric fields on a non-conductive substrate. We expect that the fabrics developed in this work can be applied to various fields that require both antibacterial and antiwetting properties.