Deposition of polytetrafluoroethylene nanoparticles on graphene oxide/polyester fabrics for oil adsorption

Abstract

Novel hierarchically structured fabrics were successfully fabricated by coating graphene oxide (GO) and depositing polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) nanoparticles on the surface of polyester (PET) fibres through suction filtration and magnetron sputtering, respectively. The structure, morphology and properties of the PTFE/GO/PET composite fabrics were characterised. The results revealed that the GO sheets had coated the surface of PET fabrics completely and the PTFE nanoparticles deposited on the GO/PET fabrics were compact and uniform. The as-prepared PTFE/GO/PET fabric showed the outstanding hydrophobic property that the contact angle (CA) reached up to 139°. Besides, the PTFE/GO/PET fabrics exhibited a remarkable capacity of adsorbing various organic solvents and oils from wastewater. More importantly, the CA and adsorption capacity of the PTFE/GO/PET fabrics showed no decrease anymore after 10 times of recycling use. The as-prepared material possesses a potential ability to adsorb organic solvents and oil from wastewater.