Novel fabrication of robust superhydrophobic polyester fabric with eugenol based on thiol-ene click chemistry for self-cleaning and water–oil separation

Abstract In this work, natural phenol eugenol and 1-octadecanethiol was adopted to fabricate superhydrophobic polyester (PET) fabric through click chemistry reaction. The surface of PET fabric was treated with eugenol to further chelate metal ions to increase the roughness. Then, under the UV irradiation and catalysis of photo initiator benzoin dimethyl ether (DMPA), 1-octadecanethiol was introduced to reduce the surface energy of fabric surface through the click chemistry reaction between the double bond in the molecular structure of eugenol and sulfhydryl group, thus the superhydrophobic PET fabric with water contact angle (WCA) of 163.8° and scrolling angle (SA) of 3.47° was prepared. XPS and FTIR results confirmed that Fe2+ and -SH were successfully co-deposited on the surface of PET fabric through eugenol. The tests results showed that the modified PET fabric maintains stable mechanical properties. Its superhydrophobic property had good stability and durability in the harsh environment of simulated seawater immersion, UV irradiation, acid/alkali and organic reagents erosion. The superhydrophobic fabric also has good self-cleaning performance and oil-water separation performance after repeated use for 25 times and the separation efficiency was more than 95%, which has good application prospects in oily wastewater treatment and protective textiles.