Superhydrophobic properties of cotton fabrics functionalized with ZnO by electroless deposition

► ZnO electroless deposition on cotton fabrics. ► Cotton fibers are homogeneously covered by ZnO hexagonal prisms. ► ZnO prisms have uniform base size of approximately 500 nm and height of 1 μm ► Coating with ZnO strongly decreases the transmittance in the UV-vis region of the fabrics. ► ZnO-coated cotton fabrics exhibit superhydrophobicity, contact angles exceeding 150°.