Fabrication and characterization of infrared-insulating cotton fabrics by ALD

To produce cotton fabrics with infrared-insulating properties, TiO₂ nanoparticles are uniformly and firmly coated onto the fabric using low-temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology at 90 °C. Cotton fabric samples were tested and the experimental data indicated that the fabrics treated by the ALD process had excellent infrared resistance and reflection properties, with the infrared and thermal insulation rates of 67.6 and 28.5% increasing to 86.7 and 63.9%, respectively, after 2000 ALD cycles. The thickness of the fabric increased with the number of ALD cycles, as determined using a fabric thickness gauge. The fabric surface morphology and fibre cross-sections were examined using a scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope, respectively. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy was used to confirm that TiO₂ was the main component of the coating on the surface of cotton fabric. Beyond that, an infrared camera was used to detect the temperature of the upper and lower surfaces of the fabric and a thermal gravimetric analyser was used to show how the TiO₂ particles were deposited on the cotton fabric.