Robust superhydrophobic fabrics constructed by a novel environmentally friendly coating strategy demonstrate multifunctional applications for effective anti-fouling, self-cleaning and versatile oil/water separation.

Inspired by the hierarchical structure of the mastoid on the micrometer and nanometer scale and the waxy crystals of the mastoid on natural lotus surfaces, a facile one-step hydrothermal strategy is developed to coat fl ower-like hierarchical TiO 2 micro/nanoparticles onto cotton fabric substrates (TiO 2 @ Cotton). Furthermore, robust superhydrophobic TiO 2 @Cotton surfaces are constructed by the combination of hierarchical structure creation and low surface energy material modifi cation, which allows versatility for self-cleaning, laundering durability, and oil/water separation. Compared with hydrophobic cotton fabric, the TiO 2 @Cotton exhibits a superior antiwetting and selfcleaning property with a contact angle (CA) lager than 160° and a sliding angle lower than 5°. The superhydrophobic TiO 2 @Cotton shows excellent laundering durability against mechanical abrasion without an apparent reduction of the water contact angle. Moreover, the micro/nanoscale hierarchical structured cotton fabrics with special wettability are demonstrated to selectively collect oil from oil/water mixtures effi ciently under various conditions (e.g., fl oating oil layer or underwater oil droplet or even oil/water mixtures). In addition, it is expected that this facile strategy can be widely used to construct multifunctional fabrics with excellent self-cleaning, laundering durability, and oil/water separation. The work would also be helpful to design and develop new underwater superoleophobic/superoleophilic materials and microfl uidic management devices.

An ultrasonication-assisted successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) strategy was developed for uniform deposition of high density p-type Bi2O3 quantum dots on n-type TiO2 nanotube arrays (Bi2O3@TiO2 NTAs), which were constructed by electrochemical anodization in ethylene glycol containing the electrolyte. Compared with pristine TiO2 NTAs, the Bi2O3 quantum dots sensitized TiO2 NTAs exhibited highly efficient photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO). The kinetic constant of Bi2O3@TiO2 NTAs prepared by an ultrasonication-assisted SILAR process of 4 cycles was 1.95 times higher than that of the pristine TiO2 NTA counterpart. The highly efficient photocatalytic activity is attributed to the synergistic effect between the formation of a uniform p-n heterojunction with high-density for enhancing light absorption and facilitating photogenerated electron-hole separation/transfer. The results suggest that Bi2O3@TiO2 p-n heterojunction nanotube arrays are very promising for enhancing the photocatalytic activity and open up a promising strategy for designing and constructing high efficiency heterogeneous semiconductor photocatalysts.