In Situ Functionalization of Cellulose with Polyoxometalate for UV-Resistant Performance

Polyoxometalate-based composite materials have recently attracted extensive attention due to their unique structural characteristics and physicochemical properties. In the present work, a flexible anti-UV blocker compatible with cotton fabric was prepared by simple covalent bond self-assembly of carboxyl group (−COOH) and phosphomolybdate. The resultant cotton fabrics were investigated and confirmed by FT-IR, PXRD and SEM-EDS, demonstrating the successful preparation of polyoxometalate-based composite fabric. The UV spectrum of as-designed composite fabric imparts excellent UV absorption capacity and the UPF value reaches 397.19, which is far superior to original cotton (7.09). Furthermore, the blocker was tested on the photosensitive material in direct UV irradiation, which proved its outstanding performance as a flexible, wearable, and visualized UV blocker. In addition, the experimental results confirmed that the prepared composite material exhibited an excellent and stable UV resistant performance (UPF: 100+) after 5 days UV aging irradiation and five times washing. The proposed fabrication strategy could promisingly endow polyoxometalate-based fiber materials with extensive applicability potential.