Multifunctional superhydrophobic self-cleaning cotton fabrics with oil-water separation and dye degradation via thiol-ene click reaction

Wastewater treatment is a process of significant socio-environmental implications, constantly calling for effective methods towards higher sustainability. In this work, an environment-friendly fluorine-free modified cotton fabric (C-S-TiO2 cotton fabric) was successfully prepared by the combination of in-situ growth of TiO2 and hydrophobic modification with octadecyl methacrylate (ODMA) by thiol-ene click reaction. The prepared cotton fabric showed superhydrophobicity/superoleophilicity (water contact angle≈156.2°), self-cleaning property and an ultra-high separation efficiency (>99.90 %) for different kinds of oil–water mixtures with the flux up to 6800 L m−2h−1. It was found that the achieved oil separation efficiency was above 99.80 % after 20 cycles. Besides, the C-S-TiO2 cotton fabric demonstrated an excellent photocatalytic degradation rate for methyl blue (MB) (98.0 %) and the degradation rate was still above 97.0 % after 5 cycles. Importantly, the C-S-TiO2 cotton fabric was tolerant towards different harsh environments conditioned by acidic solution, alkaline solution, salt solution, and organic solvent. Herein, C-S-TiO2 cotton fabric was regarded as a promising material for complex wastewater treatment.