Preparation and performance study of environmentally friendly and durable kaolin/PDMS/cotton fabrics superhydrophobic surface

In this research work, a fluorine-free, durable, and excellent self-cleaning and oil-water separation performance kaolin/polydimethylsiloxane/cotton fabrics (Kaolin/PDMS/cotton) superhydrophobic surface was successfully prepared. The morphology, wettability, and phase composition of the coating were characterized and tested using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic contact angle measuring instrument, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The experimental results showed that the organic composite of hydrophobic modified kaolin particles and cotton fabrics was successfully achieved through the bridging effect of PDMS. A dense superhydrophobic micro-nano structure coating was constructed on the surface of cotton fibers, and the tested performance was excellent. Has good local anti-pollution performance for common coffee, Coca-Cola, dyeing water, and simulated dust; After being worn for a distance of 1200 centimeters under a load of 10KPa, the contact angle with water remained above 150°, indicating excellent durability of the coating; In addition, kaolin/PDMS/cotton also exhibited good oil/water separation performance. After 15 cycles of oil-water separation tests, the separation efficiency for gasoline and dichloromethane both exceeded 96%.