Superhydrophobic cotton fabric with oil/water separation and pollutant degradation properties modified by gallic acid

Dyes, tetracycline, phenol, microplastics, and oily pollutants are commonly found in wastewater. However, there is a lack of studies demonstrating the simultaneous effective removal of all these contaminants. In this study, a Fe-gallic acid (Fe-GA) complex was in situ grown on cotton fabric to develop a functional material (FGC). FGC achieved a separation efficiency of 99.0 % for carbon tetrachloride/water mixtures by gravity, with a permeation flux of nearly 50,000 L/(m 2 ·h), and maintained stability over 20 separation cycles. After 30 s of illumination, the absorption rate of FGC for engine oil nearly doubled, indicating significant photothermal oil removal capability. Furthermore, FGC exhibited superior degradation performance for various water pollutants. Within 60 min, FGC achieved degradation efficiencies exceeding 99.0 % for Rhodamine B (RhB), Methylene Blue (MB), and Acid Yellow 23 (AY 23), and a degradation efficiency of 94.9 % for tetracycline. It also demonstrated excellent degradation capabilities for mixtures of these pollutants. Notably, the degradation performance of FGC for phenol and microplastics was even more remarkable, achieving nearly complete degradation within 10 min. This study expands the application potential of textiles and provides a novel method for efficiently removing multiple pollutants from water.