Nowadays

oil contamination has become a major reason for water pollution

and presents a global environmental challenge. Although many efforts have been devoted to the fabrication of oil/water separation materials

their practical applications are still hindered by their weak durability

poor chemical tolerance

environmental resistance

and potential negative impact on health and the environment. To overcome these drawbacks

this work offers a facile method to fabricate the eco-friendly and durable oil/water separation membrane fabrics by alkaline hydrolysis and silicon polyurethane coating. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

scanning electron microscopy

and atomic force microscopy results demonstrate that silicon polyurethane membrane could be coated onto the surface of hydrolyzed polyester fabric and form a micro-/nano-scaled hierarchical structure. Based on this

the modified fabric could have a stable superhydrophobic property with a water contact angle higher than 150°

even after repeated washing and mechanical abrasion 800 times

as well as chemical corrosion. Moreover

the modified fabrics show excellent oil/water separation efficiency of up to 99% for various types of oil–water mixture. Therefore

this durable

eco-friendly and cost-efficient superhydrophobic fabric has great potential in large-scale oil/water separation.