Preparation and properties of nano-TiO₂/SiO₂ composite sol-modified cotton fabrics

The growing demand for eco-friendly and multifunctional textile finishings led to significant attention being placed on sustainable water repellent, ultraviolet (UV)-protective, and self-cleaning agents. In this study, a TiO₂/SiO₂ composite sol was prepared via the sol–gel method and applied to cotton fabric surfaces, thereby endowing textiles with superhydrophobic, anti-UV, and self-cleaning functionalities. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the formation of robust covalent bonds (C–O–Ti and C–O–Si) between the coating and the cotton substrate, contributing to an excellent washing durability. The composite sol formed a uniform micro/nanostructured coating, significantly enhancing the hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 151.8°, which only slightly decreased to 143.9° after 50 washing cycles. Additionally, the UV protection factor rose from 15.58 to 116.7, and the self-cleaning function (enabled by the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂) was enhanced by SiO₂ through suppre..., , , # Data from: Preparation and properties of nano-TiO~2~/SiO~2~ composite sol-modified cotton fabrics

**Description:**
The dataset contains 9 files grouped into morphology/composition characterization (Files 1-8) and photocatalytic performance (File 9).

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**DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: data.xlsx - eds sheet**

1. Number of variables: 5
2. Number of cases/rows: 4096
3. Variable List:
* **Column 1: Energy (Unit: keV)**. The x-axis value representing X-ray energy.
* **Columns 2-5: Intensity (Unit: counts)**. The y-axis signal intensity for each sample.
* Order: Cotton, SiO2–cotton, TiO2–cotton, TiO2/SiO2–cotton.
4. Missing data codes: None
5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None

**DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: data.xlsx - FTIR sheet**

1. Number of variables: 5
2. Number of cases/rows: 9603
3. Variable List:
* **Column 1: Wavenumber (Unit: cm⁻¹)**. The frequency of infrared light absorbed (x-axis).
* **Columns 2-5: Transmittance (Unit: a.u.)**. The...,