Toward durable and robust superhydrophobic cotton fabric through hydrothermal growth of ZnO for oil/water separation

In this study, an eco-friendly superhydrophobic cotton fabric (CF) with water contact angle of 155° was fabricated via a facile two-step approach: imparting surface roughness through hydrothermal growth of ZnO particles, and using stearic acid to create a low-energy surface. ZnO prepared by hydrothe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cellulose (London) 2019-09, Vol.26 (13-14), p.8121-8133
Main Authors: Wang, Meng, Peng, Min, Weng, Yun-Xuan, Li, Yi-Dong, Zeng, Jian-Bing
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abrasion
Bioorganic Chemistry
Ceramics
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Composites
Contact angle
Cotton
Cotton fabrics
Durability
Erosion
Glass
Hydrophobic surfaces
Hydrophobicity
Hydrothermal reactions
Natural Materials
Organic Chemistry
Original Research
Physical Chemistry
Polymer Sciences
Robustness
Sandpaper
Separation
Stearic acid
Surface roughness
Sustainable Development
Water purification
Water treatment
Zinc oxide
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In this study, an eco-friendly superhydrophobic cotton fabric (CF) with water contact angle of 155° was fabricated via a facile two-step approach: imparting surface roughness through hydrothermal growth of ZnO particles, and using stearic acid to create a low-energy surface. ZnO prepared by hydrothermal reaction was in a rod-like shape and had nano- or micro-scale sizes. It was located on the surface in loose aggregates. After modification with stearic acid, the aggregate structure of ZnO particles was changed from loose packing to compact packing. The superhydrophobic CF could be wetted by oil but could not be wetted by water, showing excellent oil/water separation performance. The superhydrophobic CF was able to absorb oils selectively from their mixtures with water and could be used as a filtering membrane to separate oil/water mixtures directly with separation efficiency and oil flux of 96–99% and 2000–9000 L m −2  h −1 , respectively, depending on the intrinsic property of the oils. In addition, the superhydrophobic CF showed excellent mechanical robustness and environmental durability with water contact angle almost remaining unchanged after exposure to sandpaper abrasion, ultrasonication, boiling water treatment and organic solvents erosion. With excellent robustness and durability, the superhydrophobic CF exhibits great potential in oil/water separation even under some harsh conditions. Graphic abstract
ISSN:0969-0239
1572-882X
DOI:10.1007/s10570-019-02635-2