Hydrophobic lipophilic modified cotton fabric for oil absorption applications

In this paper, the method of “hydrophobic modified coating” was used by introducing the low surface energy hydrophobic groups and silica nanoparticles on the surface of towel fabric. A hydrophobic lipophilic cotton fabric with biodegradability and super absorbent capacity was prepared by modifying the surface by silica nanoparticles. The surface structure was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The performance indexes such as oil absorption ratio and oil retention rate were tested and evaluated. The results revealed that the hydrophobicity and oil absorption properties of the cotton fabrics were significantly improved after hydrophobic modification. The water contact angle is 140° and the oil contact angle is 0°, showing strong hydrophobicity of the modified fabric. In addition, the modified cotton fabric had an oil retention rate of 84.6%, which can be avoided as secondary pollution during the recycling of saturated pure cotton fabric. Moreover, the cotton fabric with residual oil can be used for power generation fuel, high fever, high enthalpy, and flammable ashless products.