Durable superhydrophobic cotton filter prepared at low temperature for highly efficient hexane and water separation

作者：Viet Ha Tran Thi; Lee Byeong Kyu^*; Chi Vinh Ngo

来源：Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2017, 71: 527-536.

DOI：10.1016/j.jtice.2016.12.029

• ZnO
• Ctton fabric
• Superhydrophobic
• Self-cleaning
• Separation

A composite of ZnO and cotton fabric (ZnO-CF) with a superhydrophobic surface was successfully synthesized with Teflon-lined stainless steel autoclave at low temperature 100 degrees C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicated that the fabricated ZnO-CF had a uniform stacked hexagonal slice structure without any impurities. The fabric surface firmly bonded with ZnO through chemical bonding and possessed super hydrophobicity with a surface water contact angle (WCA) greater than 150 degrees. The rough structure of ZnO and the enhancement of nonpolar functional groups on the composite surface gave ZnO-CF its super hydrophobicity. ZnO-CF showed a stable and robust self-cleaning property. When applied to separate a mixture of water (dyed with methylene orange) and organic solvent (hexane), ZnO-CF achieved a separation efficiency of over 99% that decreased only insignificantly even after several cycles. Therefore, this outstanding separation performance demonstrates the strong potential of ZnO-CF for practical applications such as wastewater treatment and water purification.

• 出版日期2017-2