关键词: 超纤合成革, 复合水凝胶, 微-纳结构, 光催化, 高效清洁

Abstract: Because of its natural leather-like structure, microfibre synthetic leather has excellent resistance to wear, ageing, as well as cold and breathability, and is widely used in furniture and leather goods. However, microfibre synthetic leather is prone to contamination by various types of stains in use, and due to the special characteristics of furniture, etc., stain removal cannot be achieved by simple washing, so new strategies are needed to achieve easy cleaning of microfibre synthetic leather. In previous studies, temperature-sensitive hydrogel coatings were cross-linked to the surface of microfibre synthetic leather to enhance the removal of oleophilic stains by exploiting the transformation of hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties at different temperature zones, but this method was limited in its effectiveness in removing hydrophilic stains. In this study, g-C3N4 with photocatalytic properties was introduced into the hydrogel coating to effectively decompose organic compounds by using the free radicals generated during the photocatalytic process, and to enhance the roughness of the surface of microfibre synthetic leather by constructing a micro-nano structure on the surface of microfibre synthetic leather with the help of g-C3N4, so as to improve the removal efficiency of hydrophilic stains from two aspects. The experiments were carried out by using ammonium persulphate (APS) and N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) as redox initiators to completely cross-link the composite hydrogel coating containing g-C3N4 with microfibre synthetic leather. The effect of the hydrophilic treatment on the removal rate of both oleophilic and hydrophilic stains was compared. The experimental results show that the surface hydrophilic treatment of g-C3N4 can effectively enhance the removal ability of oleophilic stains, while due to the spontaneous aggregation behaviour of g-C3N4 nanoparticles, protrusions with micro-nano structures are constructed on the surface of the composite hydrogel coating, which enhances the specific surface area and enhances the g-C3N4 photocatalytic degradation effect, optimizing the removal ability of aqueous stains.
The microfibre synthetic fabrics developed are easy to clean in everyday use: oleophilic stains (e.g. cooking oil) can be removed simply by scrubbing with water. If hydrophilic stains (e.g. red wine) are present, they can be effectively degraded by photocatalytic action. As a functional fabric, it can be widely used in the design of automobiles, furniture and bags to enhance the customer experience and increase product sales, which has promising market potential. The research can provide reference for further improvement of the easy cleaning performance of microfibre synthetic leather fabrics.

Key words: microfiber synthetic leather, hybrid hydrogels, micro-nano structures, photocatalyst, efficient cleaning