Phase-transited lysozyme with secondary reactivity for moisture-permeable antibacterial wool fabric

Functional coatings with breathability, moisture permeability and antibacterial properties are extremely popular in textile applications. The secondary reactions of the surface coating are greatly important and have attracted attention since they can make the coating a multifunctional platform by customizing the surface characteristics. However, common coatings such as polydopamine are restricted in textile fuctionalization due to their undesired color. In this study, we developed an amyloid-like natural protein coating on wool textile based on the phase-transited assembly of lysozyme. It is found that this coating significantly improve the hydrophilicity and moisture permeability of wool fabrics, which can withstand 50 washing cycles and 100 friction losses. The coated fabric maintained antibacterial properties for a long time in a humid environment after soaked in simulated sweat. At the same time, we used phase-transited lysozyme (PTL) as the secondary reaction platform to generate silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in-situ, which endows the fabric with excellent antibacterial properties. Interestingly, the finished fabric still maintains an excellent antibacterial rate after 50 washing cycles. This work shows that the secondary reactivity of the PTL assembly coating provides a facile and adaptable platform which is promising to realize diverse functionalization of textiles. It has overcome the color problem of commonly-used bionic coatings, thus providing new insights for the surface modification of other natural or synthetic fibers.