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A concept to prepare a highly hydrophobic composite with self-healing properties has been designed and verified. The new material is based on a composite of a crystalline hydrophobic fluoro wax, synthesized from montan waxes and perfluoroethylene alcohols, combined with spherical silica nanoparticles equipped with a hydrophobic shell. Highly repellent layers were prepared using this combination of a hydrophobic crystalline wax and silica nanoparticles. The novel aspect of our concept was to prepare a ladder-like structure of the hydrophobic shell allowing the inclusion of a certain share of wax molecules. Wax molecules trapped in the hydrophobic structure during mixing are hindered from crystallizing; therefore, these molecules maintain a higher mobility compared to crystallized molecules. When a thin layer of the composite material is mechanically damaged, the mobile wax molecules can migrate and heal the defects to a certain extent. The general preparation of the composite is described and XRD analysis demonstrated that a certain share of wax molecules in the composite are hindered to crystallize. Furthermore, we show that the resulting material can recovery its repellent properties after surface damage.

Poly- and cyclophosphazenes are excellent flame retardants but currently, are not used as textile finishing agents because water-soluble and permanent washing systems are missing. Here, we demonstrate for the first time, the successful usage of a water-soluble cyclotriphosphazene derivative for textile finishing for cotton, different cotton/polyester, and cotton/polyamide blend fabrics. A durable finish was achieved using a photoinduced grafting reaction. The flame retardant properties of the various fabrics were improved with a higher limiting oxygen index, a reduced heat release rate, and an exhibition of intumescent. Furthermore, the finished textiles passed several standardized flammability tests.