Chitosan-Based Superhydrophobic-Coated Cotton Fabric for Oil-Water Separation and Heavy Oil Adsorption

As environmental pollution becomes increasingly severe, especially the accumulation of plastic pollution and harmful chemicals, the call for promoting sustainable development is growing louder and louder, and it is urgent. Against this backdrop, renewable biopolymer materials are receiving extensive attention. Chitosan (CS), as a biodegradable high-molecular polysaccharide, has been broadly applied in the field of superhydrophobicity. In my paper, CS was prepared by a chemical method, graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized, and Leaf-like Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework (ZIF-L) and PDMS were successively deposited on cotton fabric. The prepared CS-GO-ZIF-L-PDMS cotton fabric has excellent superhydrophobic performance, with a water contact angle (WCA) of 161.2°, and also has good photocatalytic degradation and wear resistance. The antibacterial rate of the CS-GO-ZIF-L-PDMS coating on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus is greater than 90%. The CS-GO-ZIF-L-PDMS sponge can adsorb 37-58 times its own weight of oil, and its separation efficiency for various oil-water mixtures is greater than 97%. The CS-GO-ZIF-L-PDMS sponge has excellent photothermal performance and can quickly deice and adsorb high-viscosity heavy oil under the irradiation of simulated sunlight. This excellent performance can be applied to dealing with offshore oil pollution.