Fabrication of superoleophobic cotton fabric for multi-purpose applications

Superoleophobicity is of interest for practical applications such as liquid repellency, self-cleaning, stain resistance, anti-bacterial properties and oilwater separation. In this work, the superoleophobic coating on cotton fabric was applied by simple immersion in TiO2 nanoparticles, perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane and tertraethylorthosilicate solution. Its anti-wetting properties, surface morphology and functionality were characterized. The coated cotton fabric shows superoleophobicity with oil (surface tension more than 27mNm1) contact angle of 152 and tilt angle of 6. Furthermore, the superoleophobic cotton fabric was demonstrated to exhibit self-cleaning, stain resistance, mechanical durability, chemical stability, thermal stability, anti-bacterial properties and oilwater separation capabilities. This article is part of the theme issue Bioinspired materials and surfaces for green science and technology (part 2).