Bioinspired Fabric with Superhydrophilicity and Superoleophobicity for Efficient Oil/Water Separation

The cotton fabric was modified with dopamine methacrylamide (DMA) based on mussel-inspired reaction and polymerized with zwitterionic sulfobetaine methacrylate (SBMA) through free radical polymerization reaction. The poly(DMA-SBMA) contained not only key chemical constituents of dopamine hydrochloride, which strongly adsorbed to fabric substrates, but also hydrophilic groups, providing a hydrophilic surface for fabric due to its strong interaction with water via electrostatic interactions. The chemical structure, surface topography, and surface wettability of the fabric were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and contact angle experiments, respectively. The results showed that the water contact angle (WCA) of the treated fabric was ~0 °, whereas the underwater oil contact angle (OCA) was ~161 °, as compared to ~25 ° for the control one. It is expected that as-prepared fabrics could be applied in oil/water separation due to such special superhydrophilicity and superoleophobicity.