Environmental-friendly regenerated lignocellulose functionalized cotton fabric to prepare multi-functional degradable membrane for efficient oil-water separation and solar seawater desalination

Water shortage has aggravated the world-wide water crisis. Waste water purification and seawater desalination have become important means to alleviate fresh water shortage. In this work, the regenerated lignocellulose functionalized cotton fabric was developed as a novel, multi-functional, green and degradable membrane (named LCPT@CF) for efficient oil-water separation and solar seawater desalination. The fabrication method of LCPT@CF has the merits of simple, environmentally friendly and cost effective. The regenerated lignocellulose was adhered on the surface of cotton fabric by tannic acid and polyvinyl alcohol complexes tightly, and the multilayered structures of the LCPT@CF can be formed, which endowed the membranes with underwater superoleophobic property and durability. The LCPT@CF can purify oil-in-water emulsions with an efficiency of 99.90%, and moreover, benefiting from the excellent photothermal conversion capacity of regenerated lignocellulose, the LCPT@CF can achieve high evaporation rate of 1.39 kg m − 2 h − 1 under 1 sun illumination. More importantly, the LCPT@CF can be naturally degraded in soil within 3 months. Hence, the LCPT@CF has great potential for practical application in oil-water separation and solar desalination.