Fabrics coated with hot-iron-treated graphene oxide for a self-cleaning and mechanically robust water-oil separation material

Abstract

A simple method was reported to fabricate self-cleaning and water-oil separation fabrics sprayed with hotiron-treated graphene oxide (GO). The GO solution was prepared with a modified Hummers' method and coated on the fabrics by spraying or soaking method. A 160 degrees C hot iron was pressed at the surface of the fabrics to make it flat, dry, thermally reduced in part, and strongly bonded. Afterward, the fabrics were thermally reduced at 250 degrees C for 20 minutes in an oven. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) coated fabrics exhibited a superhydrophobic nature with a water contact angle of 129.4 degrees, through which water could barely permeate the fabrics, in contrast to oil and organic solvents of low polarity. Additionally, this rGO fabric presented outstanding mechanical properties as well as a reusable stability.