Silica-Based Superhydrophobic and Superoleophilic Cotton Fabric with Enhanced Self-Cleaning Properties for Oil–Water Separation and Methylene Blue Degradation

Abstract

Superhydrophobic textiles with multifunctional characteristics are highly desired and have attracted tremendous research attention. This research employs a simple dip-coating method to obtain a fluorine-free silica-based superhydrophobic and superoleophilic cotton fabric. Pristine cotton fabric is coated with SiO2 nanoparticles and octadecylamine. SiO2 nanoparticles are anchored on the cotton fabric to increase surface roughness, and octadecyl amine lowers the surface energy, turning the hydrophilic cotton fabric into superhydrophobic. The designed cotton fabric exhibits a water contact angle of 159° and a sliding angle of 7°. The prepared cotton fabric is characterized by attenuated total reflectance-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. In addition, the coated fabric reveals excellent features, including mechanical and chemical stability, superhydrophobicity, superoleophilicity, and the self-cleaning ability. SiO2 nanoparticles and octadecylamine-coated cotton fabric demonstrate exceptional oil–water separation and wastewater remediation performance by degrading the methylene blue solution up to 89% under visible light. The oil–water separation ability is tested against five different oils with more than 90% separation efficiency. This strategy has the advantages of low-cost precursors, a simple and scalable coating method, enhanced superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity, self-cleaning ability, efficient oil–water separation, and exceptional wastewater remediation performance.

Synthesis and Characterization of Superhydrophobic Epoxy Resin Coating with SiO2@CuO/HDTMS for Enhanced Self-Cleaning, Photocatalytic, and Corrosion-Resistant Properties

“…Despite these advantages, a common issue with many superhydrophobic surfaces is their inherent oleophilic nature, making them susceptible to contamination by organic pollutants and leading to a gradual decline in hydrophobicity and the eventual loss of self-cleaning properties [24,25]. Consequently, the fusion of superhydrophobicity with the photocatalytic decomposition of organic compounds has garnered considerable attention from the research community in recent years [26][27][28][29]. Semiconductor oxides such as TiO 2 [30], SnO 2 [31], ZnO [32], NiO [33], Cu 2 O [34], and CuO [35] are extensively utilized as photocatalysts in the degradation of various pollutants, encompassing dyes, organic contaminants, natural organic substances, and pharmaceutical compounds.…”