Durable superhydrophobic cotton fabrics based on fluorinated alternating copolymer and silica nanoparticle: Preparation and oil-water separation

The development of superhydrophobic materials has attracted great attention due to their promising potential in a variety of areas including oil–water separation. In this work, durable and robust superhydrophobic cotton fabrics based on fluorinated alternating copolymer and silica nanoparticle are prepared. Silica nanoparticles are in-situ produced and immobilized onto the surface of poly dopamine (PDA) wrapped cotton fabrics, then modified by fluorinated block copolymer (AB2)nA-b-PIPMSAm, followed by removing the iodine on the polymers, to prepare superhydrophobic cotton fabrics with water contact angle up to 160.8°. The prepared cotton fabrics are durable, displaying excellent resistance to varying organic solvents, acids, alkalis, hot water, sonication and mechanical abrasion. High separation efficiency (maximum 99.6 %) and satisfying reusability for continuous separation of oil/water mixtures are achieved. The separation efficiency for trichloromethane/water mixtures is still as high as 94 % even after 50 times of repetitive separation. In addition, water-in-oil emulsion can be also efficiently handled, displaying high practical application potential.