Recent progress of cotton fabric based on bio‐inspired modification for oil/water separation

Abstract With the continuous development of the industry, oil spill accidents occur frequently. Oil/water separation materials are considered to be a major choice for the treatment of oily wastewater due to their flexible operation and low cost. Cotton fabrics are low‐cost and environmentally friendly, which are used as substrates to prepare oil/water separation materials with quite competitive in the market. A large number of oil/water separation cotton fabrics with excellent properties have been frequently reported in recent decades. On the other hand, since the service life of these oil/water separation cotton fabrics is closely related to the thin layer covered on the surface, so in order to improve the practical applicability, substances such as dopamine and plant polyphenols that improve the adhesion of the thin layer to the surface of the material are introduced into the preparation process of these materials. On this basis, the research progress of super‐hydrophobic cotton fabrics, super‐hydrophilic/underwater super‐oleophobic cotton fabrics, super durable oil/water separation cotton fabrics and intelligent response to oil/water separation fabric in recent years are reviewed, as well as their applications in the field of oil/water separation.