Mechanical- and oil-durable superhydrophobic polyester materials for selective oil absorption and oil/water separation

The low stability and complicated fabrication procedures seriously hindered practical applications of superhydrophobic materials. Here we present a facile approach for preparing durable superhydrophobic polyester materials by dip-coating in a nanocomposite solution of polymerized tetraethoxysilane and n-hexadecyltriethoxysilane. The coated samples exhibit excellent superhydrophobicity, superoleophilicity, mechanical and chemical stabilities. This is attributed to the tight binding of the nanocomposite on the polyester fibers and the inherent stability of silicone. The coated samples can quickly absorb petrol, diesel and crude oil, and show very high selectivity in oil/water separation. In addition, the coated samples could maintain their superhydrophobicity, oil absorption capacity and oil/water selectivity after harsh mechanical damage, 90 days of immersion in oils and ten cycles of absorption-desorption. Moreover, this approach is simple and can be easily scaled up for producing samples on a large size, which makes it very promising for practical oil absorption. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.