TiO₂-Doped Silicone Nanofilament-Coated Fabric: A Superhydrophobic Platform for High-Efficiency Oil–Water Separation and Self-Cleaning

Superhydrophobic fabrics exhibit exceptional potential for oil–water separation, providing effective solutions to environmental challenges such as industrial wastewater and marine oil spills. To streamline the fabrication process and mitigate oily contamination, we developed an in situ growth approach to coat polyester fabric with superhydrophobic TiO2-doped silicone nanofilaments. The coated fabric facilitates highly efficient oil–water separation and exhibits light-driven self-cleaning properties. By precisely controlling the synergistic hydrolysis conditions of methyl trichlorosilane (MTCS) and tetrabutyl titanate (TBT), TiO2-doped silicone nanofilaments were successfully grown on the fabric surface, resulting in a highly porous coating. Integrating this porous structure with the residual methyl groups from MTCS made the fabric superhydrophobic, allowing it to separate various oil–water mixtures efficiently with excellent reusability and high-pressure resistance (2950 Pa). Incorporating TiO2 further endowed the superhydrophobic fabric with light-driven self-cleaning capabilities, enabling the degradation of organic contaminants without compromising its liquid repellency. This simple, cost-effective, and productive fabrication method is highly adaptable, making it valuable for researchers aiming to introduce superhydrophobicity to diverse substrates and surfaces. With its high oil–water separation efficiency and light-driven self-cleaning properties, the superhydrophobic TiO2-doped silicone nanofilament-coated fabric holds significant potential for applications in oil pollution remediation, self-cleaning surfaces, and desalination.