Layered double hydroxide functionalized textile for effective oil/water separation and selective oil adsorption

The removal of oil and organic pollutants from water is highly desired due to frequent oil spill accidents, as well as the increase of industrial oily wastewater. Here, superhydrophobic and superoleophilic textile has been successfully prepared for the application of effective oil/water separation and selective oil adsorption. This textile was fabricated by functionalizing the commercial textile with layered double hydroxide (LDH) microcrystals and low surface energy molecules. The LDH microcrystals were immobilized on the microfibers of the textile through an in situ growth method, and they formed a nestlike microstructure. The combination of the hierarchical structure and the low surface energy molecules made the textile superhydrophobic and superoleophilic. Further experiments demonstrated that the as-prepared textile not only can be applied as effective membrane materials for the separation of oil and water mixtures with high separation efficiency (>97%), but also can be used as a bag for the selective oil adsorption from water. Thus, such superhydrophobic and superoleophilic textile is a very promising material for the application of oil spill cleanup and industrial oily wastewater treatment.