Facile fabrication of natural superhydrophobic eleostearic acid-SiO2@cotton fabric for efficient separation of oil/water mixtures and emulsions

• Published in: Sustainable Materials and Technologies 2022-07, Vol.32, p.e00418, Article e00418
• Main Authors: Lin, Haimen, Chen, Kunhui, Zheng, Shijing, Zeng, Renping, Lin, Yucai, Jian, Rongkun, Bai, Weibin, Xu, Yanlian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cotton fabric; Eleostearic acid; Oil/water separation; pH-responsive material; SiO2
• ISSN: 2214-9937; 2214-9937
• DOI: 10.1016/j.susmat.2022.e00418

Oily wastewater generated by industrial production and marine oil spill accidents has caused great damage to the environment and human health. The development of superhydrophobic materials prepared from natural resources for oil/water separation is of great significance. In this work, a bio-based modified fabric for oil/water separation was prepared by coating SiO2 and eleostearic acid (EA) on cotton fabric. Due to the rough surface provided by SiO2 and the low-surface-energy EA, the eleostearic acid-SiO2@cotton fabric (EA-SiO2@CF) displayed durable superhydrophobicity even under various harsh environments. The acid-stable SiO2 particles and EA molecules endowed the modified cotton fabric with resistance to high concentrations of strong acid. EA-SiO2@CF also showed pH-responsive behavior, converting between superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic states by ammonia treatment and immersion in EA solution. The superhydrophobic EA-SiO2@CF was used to separate various immiscible oil/water mixtures and surfactant-stabilized (oil-in-water and water-in-oil) emulsions with high separation efficiencies of about 99.5%. This work provides an easy strategy to prepare an environmentally friendly superhydrophobic material which can be applied to the treatment of oily wastewater, anti-corrosion protection, and intelligent response.