Durable superhydrophobic cotton fabric decorated with pyrogallol-based polybenzoxazine and Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 for effective oil-water mixtures and emulsions separation

• Published in: Journal of polymer research 2023-12, Vol.30 (12)
• Main Authors: Du, Yonggang, Zhu, Yongfei, Li, Yuxuan, Xiao, Jianrui, Wang, Zhi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coatings; Hydroxides; Methylene blue; Water
• ISSN: 1022-9760
• DOI: 10.1007/s10965-023-03831-2

To develop a durable superhydrophobic cotton fabric (CF) for effectively separating oil/water mixtures, a pyrogallol-based polybenzoxazine with abundant hydroxyl groups (PPG-D) and Fe.sub.3O.sub.4 were adopted to decorate CF. Meanwhile, a commercial benzoxazine based on bisphenol A and aniline (BA-a) was also incorporated to enhance the application potential of superhydrophobic CF. As expected, a durable superhydrophobic cotton fabric (PPG-D@[e-mail].4@CF) with a water contact angle (WCA) of 154° was successfully fabricated via a facile dip-coating method. PPG-D@[e-mail].4@CF not only could effectively separate immiscible oil-water mixtures with a high permeation flux of up to 12207 L/m.sup.2h and separation efficiency of above 98.8%, but also displayed a satisfactory separation ability for surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions with a separation efficiency of over 99.8% and high flux in the range of 4971-8281 L/m.sup.2h, and the modified CF remained a superior separation efficiency and flux even after 20 separation cycles. In addition, PPG-D@[e-mail].4@CF also displayed outstanding mechanical and chemical stability as well as excellent self-cleaning ability, and the WCA of modified CF could reach 148° even after 100 abrasion cycles. These excellent characteristics make PPG-D@[e-mail].4@CF have a promising application in oil-water separation.