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Bio-inspired cotton fabric with superhydrophobicity for high-efficiency self-cleaning and oil/water separation

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Abstract

In this paper, a facile and efficient approach to robust and durable superhydrophobic cotton fabric was presented via in situ CuO deposition and stearic acid (STA) coating. The combined effects of both rough structure and low surface energy endowed cotton fabric (Cot) with superhydrophobicity, water repellency, and self-cleaning property. Moreover, the as-prepared fabric (Cot–CuO–STA) could keep its robust superhydrophobicity under harsh environmental conditions of acidic, alkaline and salt solutions, high temperature, mechanical abrasion and washing. Importantly, the obtained Cot–CuO–STA with WCA of 156.5° had great potential in oil/water separation with high separation efficiency of up to 98.7% for various oils (dichloromethane, trichloromethane, soybean oil, and n-heptane). Further, fascinating permeate flux (more than 1800 L.m−2.h−1) and remarkable recyclability made Cot–CuO–STA a promising application in oil-contaminated water treatment and marine spilt oil cleanup.

Graphic abstract

Robust and durable superhydrophobic cotton fabric was fabricated for oil/water separation via a facile and efficient route. The resultant fabric exhibited remarkable separation efficiency for different kinds of oils, fascinating permeate flux, and excellent recyclability.

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Acknowledgments

The work was financially supported by the Public Technology Research Plan of Zhejiang Province (LGF18E030003) and the Fundamental Research Funds of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (2019Q008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Ruiyang Lu, Gafurov Adkhamjon, Wenli Gong, Xiaoqing Sun & Lin Liu

  2. National Engineering Lab of Textile Fiber Materials and Processing Technology, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Yucong Yu & Lin Liu

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  1. Ruiyang Lu
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Correspondence to Lin Liu.

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Lu, R., Yu, Y., Adkhamjon, G. et al. Bio-inspired cotton fabric with superhydrophobicity for high-efficiency self-cleaning and oil/water separation. Cellulose 27, 7283–7296 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-020-03281-9

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