Acid and temperature dual-responsive cotton fabrics with polymer coating

•Cotton fabrics with a copolymer coating were prepared.•The material exhibited smart behavior with response to acid and temperature.•The fabrics can selectively separate water from crude oil-water mixtures.

This paper reported the development of functional cotton fabrics (CFs) with polymer coating. Copolymer originated from isopropylacrylamide and acrylic acid was synthesized and coated onto CFs using a simple dip-coating process, aiming at enhancing the technical valve of CFs with rectified stability and sensitivity to the environmental factors. Various techniques were employed to study the morphology and properties of cotton textile before and after coating. The results showed that the introduction of copolymer coating significantly enhanced the thermal and chemical stability of cotton textiles. More interestingly, the prepared CFs exhibited active responses to acid and temperature with superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity. When employing the CFs as a membrane, the fabrics could selectively separate water from crude oil-water mixture with high efficiency, making the material a promising and highly energy-efficient candidate for various applications.