Gosiamemang, TsaoneTsaoneGosiamemangHeng, Jerry YYJerry YYHeng2024-11-182024-11-182024-10International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2024, 277 (Part 1)0141-8130http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/115814Fats, oils and grease (FOGs) deposits in sewers have recently become a significant problem, causing financial strain on water companies, damaging sewer lines, and exposing the environment to dirty water through sanitary sewer overflows. Despite the proactive use of grease traps/interceptors for physical oil-water separation, the issue of FOG deposits persists. This study proposes the use of adsorption-based oil-water separation, employing superhydrophobic cotton, as a new alternative method for removing FOGs. Durable superhydrophobic cotton was successfully prepared using a simple two-step sol-gel method, with octadecyltrimethoxysilane (ODTMS) as a modifying silane. The resulting cotton samples demonstrated remarkable superhydrophobicity, evidenced by water contact angle (WCA) above 154°. Additionally, it exhibited exceptional durability and stability when exposed to hot water, harsh acidic and alkaline solutions, as well as during a laundry test. Moreover, the cotton displayed excellent oil-water separation efficiency (> 98 %) and maintained consistent performance throughout 20 reuse cycles, highlighting its high reusability. This approach holds the potential to address the prevailing FOG deposit issues and contribute to more efficient and sustainable wastewater management practices.© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Journal Articlehttps://www.dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.133863http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.133863