Durable superhydrophobic fabric for oil-water separation enabled by UV-induced modifier

A novel surface modifier was developed by a simple method, in which n-octadecanethiol (OT) and divinyltetramethyldisilazane (DVTS) reacted via a one-step thiol–ene click chemistry. The prepared surface modifier OT-DVTS could be easily applied onto the surface of various substrates via dip-coating technique. After the cotton fabric was modified by OT-DVTS, the Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectra confirmed that OT-DVTS had been successfully grafted onto fabric surface. The resultant OT-DVTS@fabric surface exhibited a significant change from a smooth to a rough structure. Benefiting from synergistic effect of increased roughness and decreased surface energy, the OT-DVTS@fabric achieved superhydrophobic performance with a water contact angle of 154° and oil contact angle nearly 0°. When the OT-DVTS@fabric was used for separating oil-water mixture, even after 30 reuse cycles, the separation efficiency for water and oil remained above 99% and 91%, respectively. The measurement results revealed that OT-DVTS@fabric exhibited outstanding durability against irradiation, chemical solvents, high temperature, tape peeling-off, and abrasion, which should be attributed to the strong covalent bonding interaction between OT-DVTS and substrates. Therefore, this work provided a UV-induced, highly efficient strategy to prepare OT-DVTS surface modifier, which could endow substrates surface with durable hydrophobic performance.