Fabrication and multifunctional properties of marigold-like nanostructured β-Ni(OH)2 coated cotton fabric

Abstract

Oil spillage from petroleum industry and also the mixing of industrial wastewater into water bodies are some of the major ways of water pollution. Low cost, biodegradable and biocompatible materials are highly required for tackling the pollution problem without causing further indirect pollution. In this work, a superamphiphilic nanomarigold-like β-Ni(OH)2 based coating on commercial cotton fabric (bNH-CF) has been fabricated by a simple one pot hydrothermal process. The fabric is able to simultaneously separate oil and water from oil–water mixtures where the sample is pre-wetted by either oil or water. The coated fabric shows under-oil superhydrophobicity and underwater superoleophobicity. The sample is able to separate both light and heavy oils from oil–water mixtures, oil-alkaline/acidic/salt/hot water mixtures with ~ 99% separation efficiency. In addition, it shows an excellent reusability (up to 50 cycles) with superior mechanical and chemical durability under harsh conditions without affecting the nanomarigold-like structure of β-Ni(OH)2 that developed upon the cotton fabric. The presence of β-Ni(OH)2 coated fabric shows significant bacterial (E. coli and S. aureus) and fungal (C. albicans) reduction in contaminated water. Hence, the coated cotton fabric fabricated by cost effective process can be useful for hassle-free simultaneous separation of oil–water mixtures as well as removal/growth inhibition of microbes from wastewater. The coated fabric also shows significant electrical conductivity. On the other hand, hexadecyltrimethoxysilane modified β-Ni(OH)2 coated fabric (bNHS-CF) shows excellent in-air superhydrophobicity, self-cleaning and anti-staining properties.Thus, the versatility of coated fabric can broaden the domain of practical applications as antimicrobial and superwetting multifunctional textiles.