3D Weft-knitted spacer fabrics (WKSFs) coated with silica aerogels as oil intercepting sorbents for use in static and dynamic water tests

Abstract

Nowadays, industrial discharges, oil spills, and oily water wastages have constituted a dreadful hazard to the world's ecological environment. Therefore, three types of 3D weft-knitted spacer fabrics (WKSFs) were treated with silica aerogels (SAs) by a sol-gel process. Characteristics like oil absorption, retention, wetting, wicking, and interception were explored. Surface and physical properties were analyzed through SEM. The results revealed that all the samples have greater absorption and retention capacity, most specifically sample 2 (S2). The dynamic oil spreading rate exposed that the higher porosity (87.54%) and the higher silica add-on (38.75%) unveiled the higher wicking height (78.4 and 72.6 mm) for vegetable and engine oils. Further, the static water test exhibited the highest oil interception efficiency (98.80% and 99.79%) with an initial leakage time of 28 and 30 min while the dynamic water test exhibited the higher interception efficiency (98.75% and 99.67%) under the water flow rates of 150 mL/s, and with the initial leakage time of 14 and 17 min for both oils. Moreover, the statistical studies proved a significant verification (***P < 0.05) of treated 3D WKSFs at the 0.05 level. Hence, 3D WKSFs are an inordinate encouraging eco-friendly sorbent substantial for various oil clean-up uses in water treatment.