Preparation and characterization of hydrophobic cotton fiber for water/oil separation by electroless plating combined with chemical corrosion

Abstract

In this study, cotton fibers were coated with nickel film using a simple electroless plating process, followed by chemical corrosion and stearic acid treatment, to develop hydrophobic cotton fibers for oil/water separation. The effects of chemical corrosion and stearic acid treatment on the contact angle of the resulting cotton fibers were discussed. The hydrophobic cotton fibers were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS). The adsorption capacities of petrol and soybean oil were measured. The results show that the surface contact angle reached approximately 138° when the nickel-coated cotton fibers were immersed in Cu2+ solution for 30 min and treated with stearic acid for 5 h. The SEM and XRD results indicate that microroughness formed on the surface of the resulting cotton fibers, causing the hydrophobicity of the surface. The adsorption capacities for petrol and soybean oil were 14.98 and 7.52 g/g, respectively. The results suggest that this work provides a new and feasible method for developing cotton fiber-based materials for oil/water separation.

Keywords: Cotton fiber, electroless plating, chemical corrosion, hydrophobicity, oil adsorption