Bioinspired hierarchical coating with superhydrophobic bacterial-repellency and photothermal sterilization for reusable infection-resistant personal protective equipment

High-performance personal protective equipment (PPE) is indispensable for the prevention of infectious diseases. However, the protective effect of PPE is significantly weakened due to pathogens surviving on the fabric surface. Herein we propose a versatile protective coating that can be applied to the fiber surface, imparting exceptional antifouling and antibacterial properties. The coating is fabricated on the polypropylene (PP) fiber surface by integrating dopamine-triggered polymerization of 1-vinylimidazole with sustainable chelation-induced in situ growth of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) nanoparticles, followed by further modification with perfluorodecyltrimethoxysilane (PFTS). The obtained superhydrophobic ZIF-8@polydopamine/poly(1-vinylimidazole) (SZPP) coating showcases exceptional antifouling capability, thereby effectively impeding 99.7% of bacteria from adhering to its surface. Moreover, SZPP exhibits superior photothermal conversion capabilities under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation, which synergizes with the contact-killing effect of Zn²⁺ ions to achieve potent antibacterial activity (99.9%) against E. coli and S. aureus. Therefore, this multifunctional SZPP-based coating, which possesses outstanding antifouling and antibacterial properties, enables PPE to become self-cleaning and reusable, holding significant potential for personal protection applications.