Modification of cotton fibers with functional silane and application for emergency treatment of spilled oil or other organic pollutants

Water contamination issues caused by spilled oil or other organic pollutants are urgently requiring the development of new oil sorbent materials that may desirably have the functionalities of reusability and efficiency. To further improve hydrophobicity, sorption capacity and oil retention rate, in this study, cotton modified with vinyl triethoxysilane (VTES, KH-151) to improve them. The introduction of KH-151 onto the surface of cotton was verified by SEM, FT-IR, XPS and EDS. The oil-water selectivity, sorption and retention capacities and cycling performance were tested. Compared with the raw cotton, modified cottons surface enhanced the rate and capacity of oil separation from oily water, the sorption capacity for soybean oil was increased from 9.83 g g–1 to 27.26 g g–1 and for dimethylsilicone oil from 7.92 g g–1 to 25.09 g g–1 after 10 cycles. The oil retention rates of modified cottons exceed 95 % for soybean oil within 10 min at low specific volumes. It gradually decreased by specific volume increasing but still maintained over 75 % at the 14 cm3 g–1. These indicated the hydrophobic and superoleophilic properties, and good recyclability. The developed method and sorbent hold promise for easy storage, environmentally friendly, reusable and relatively cost-effective oil cleanup in emergency treatment of spilled oil or other organic pollutants. [Display omitted] •The reaction sites and hydrophobicity were increased pretreated with NaClO2 and NaOH.•Modified cotton absorbs oils and organic solvents with excellent selectivity and reusability.•Used as simple, green and cost-effective oil cleanup in emergency treatment of spilled oil.