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8701969 
Journal Article 
PH-Responsive smart non-woven fabrics (NWFs) with double switchable wettability between superhydrophilicity-superhydrophobicity-superhydrophilicity to oil/water separation 
Zhang, Z; Yu, H; Guo, J; Bai, Z; Zhang, S; Zhang, Y; Wang, J 
2019 
1 
New Journal of Chemistry
ISSN: 1144-0546
EISSN: 1369-9261 
43 
17 
6712-6720 
English 
pH-Responsive smart non-woven fabrics (NWFs) with double transformations were prepared via the in situ grafting of Ag nanoparticles through an oxidation-reduction reaction and were modified using a mixed thiol-molecule solution, including HS(CH2)10CH3, HS(CH2)10COOH and HS(CH2)11OH. A NWF continuously separates immiscible oil-water mixtures with high selectivity and has considerable flux under gravity. The wettability of NWFs with an optimal thiol concentration shows reversible switches between superhydrophilicity-superhydrophobicity-superhydrophilicity, which corresponds to different conditions such as acidic, neutral and basic. The as-prepared NWFs had great oil absorption capacities and possessed high oil-water separation efficiency. This simple approach to fabricate pH-responsive NWFs has provided a facile and versatile strategy for effectively separating oil-water mixtures, which can be further applied for water treatment, purification of solvents or fuels and so on. 2019 The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.