RAFT Reaction Modified Cotton Fabric and Its Application for Oil/Water Separation

For the actual courses of surroundings conservation, segregation of oily water mixtures is increasingly desired. The hydrophobic/oleophilic cotton fabric as a system for removing oil from a water phase was prepared by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) reaction technology. A piece of fabric was modified with the RAFT chain transfer agent S-1-Dodecyl-S′-(α′,α″-dimethyl-α″-acetic acid) trithiocarbonate (CTA), then hydrophobic/oleophilic interface was fabricated on the CTA modified fabric by grafting the octadecyl methacrylate. The chemical structures, surface topographies and surface properties were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and contact angle experiments, respectively. The ability of as-prepared fabric with a separation efficiency was better than 97.0 % on average for various types of oil/water mixtures demonstrated the hydrophobic/oleophilic property. We believe that the work will extend the applications of fabric in the oil/water separation and provide a new design in practical applications.