Two combination strategies of coordinated silicon elastomer and modified nano-silica to fabricate self-healing hybrid coating@fabrics with high oil-water separation capabilities

With an increase in marine oil pollution, efficient remediation strategies are required to completely remove the oily wastewater. The construction of self-healing coatings with high separation efficiency has become a hot research topic. In this study, the hybrid coatings of nano-silica synergized with self-healing silicon elastomer were prepared on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabrics by two combination strategies. Different combination strategies conferred various bonding states between the nanoparticles and the elastomer, affecting the hydrophobicity and stability of the materials. Self-healing silicon elastomer was prepared based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) crosslinked by iron-based coordination. The prepared hybrid fabrics exhibited high hydrophobicity with a water contact angle (WCA) of 145˚, and could maintain the hydrophobic properties after 20 cycles of mechanical abrasion. It realized 97% separation efficiency of multiple types of oil-water solution, even severe mechanical abrasion occurred, which still basically returned to the initial level after self-healing.