A hydrophobic flexible self-cleaning carbon based type II heterojunction photocatalyst:A smart apparel for multifunctional application

Graphitic carbon nitride(GCN) and polypyrrole(PPy) based smart apparel were fabricated using polyvinyl alcohol as a binder on cotton cloth. Equal amount of GCN and PPy were mixed with different weight percentages to form composites and fabricated the thin film by casting method. A higher weight percentage of composite thin film revealed a low bandgap (3.555 eV) garnering 50 % of solar light. Higher optical(0.1735S) and electrical conductivity (1.4234X10⁻³ S/cm) was noticed for 5 GP. The nitrogen defect center of GCN was blocked by the –NH group of PPy and reduced the PL quenching of GCN. As 5 GP possesses, higher conductivity, it was chosen to fabricate smart attires. The smart fabric exhibited lower water solubility(10 %) and lower water absorption(30 %) and higher contact angle (110.8°) and revealed that the material is hydrophobic in nature. Owing to the hydrophobic nature and wide absorption, it can be a candidate for self-cleaning apparel.