Layer-by-layer self-assembled nanocoatings of Mxene and P, N-co-doped cellulose nanocrystals onto cotton fabrics for significantly reducing fire hazards and shielding electromagnetic interference

[Display omitted] •The TA-MXene and P, N-co-doped cellulose nanocrystals (PA@PANI@CNC) were fabricated.•The nanocoatings were assembled onto cotton via LBL assembly.•The PHRR and TSP of coated cotton fabric were reduced by 63% and 98%.•The nanocoatings endowed cotton with fire safety and EMI shielding performance. With the increasing of electromagnetic pollution, flexible electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding textiles are of urgent demand in daily life, which have the high fire hazards. Herein, we have prepared tannic acid-modified MXene (TA-Mxene), synthesized P, N-co-doped cellulose nanocrystals (PA@PANI@CNC), and then designed an alternative deposition of TA-Mxene and PA@PANI@CNC to achieve the flame-retardant and EMI shielding nanocoatings onto cotton fabrics by the layer-by-layer self-assembled technology. In particular, the EMI shielding efficient (SE) of cotton fabric with 20 bilayers coatings (Cotton-20BL) reaches up to 21 dB over the X-band frequency range. In addition, the Cotton-20BL achieves a high limited oxygen index of 32. Most notably, the peak heat release rate and total smoke production are reduced by 63.0% and 98.3%, respectively. Therefore, this work provides a highly efficient approach for the EMI shielding textiles with high fire safety.