[nanoPost] Biomimetic superhydrophobic and highly oleophobic cotton textiles

Research Centre Holland

A biomimetic procedure to prepare superhydrophobic cotton textiles. By in situ introducing silica particles to cotton fibers to generate a dual-size surface roughness, followed by hydrophobization with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), normally hydrophilic cotton has been easily turned superhydrophobic, which exhibits a static water contact angle of 155 for a 10 L droplet.

The roll-off angle of water droplets depends on the droplet volume, ranging from 7 for a droplet of 50 L to 20 for a 7 L droplet. When a perfluoroalkyl chain is introduced to the silica particle surface, the superhydrophobic textile also becomes highly oleophobic, as demonstrated by a static contact angle of 140 and a roll-off angle of 24 for a 15 L sunflower oil droplet.