Construction of superhydrophobic flexible polyurethane with dual nano-enhancement effect for solar-assisted high-viscosity oil cleanup and oil-water separation

Abstract

Rapid and safe implementation of viscous crude oil cleanup is still a daunting challenge. Superhydrophobic materials are outstanding candidates for handling solvent spills, but are limited to recovering low viscosity oil and organic solvents. Hence, a polyurethane foam (PMRP-PU) integrating superelasticity, dual solar-responsive and fire resistance was fabricated by blending MXene and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) via self-foaming method. The surface temperature of the PMRP-PU reached 105 °C after simulated sunlight irradiation for 600 s. PMRP-PU had outstanding adsorption performance for low-viscosity oil and organic solvent (∼70.1 g/g) at room temperature, and the adsorption capacity of high-viscosity oil was also increased by 202.1 % compared with pure PU. Additionally, the adsorption capacity of PMRP-PU-3 remained at 92.7 % of the original level after 20 cycles of experiments. Excellent acid and alkali resistance and high temperature stability also greatly improved the environmental adaptability of the foam. Contrary to the flammability of pure PU, the peak heat release rate and total heat release of PMRP-PU-3 were decreased by 22.6 % and 25.2 %, respectively, and the melt dripping phenomenon disappeared during burning, exhibiting excellent fire safety. Briefly, this polyurethane foam can be repeatedly used for oil spill cleaning, and has a broad development prospect in the field of oil-water separation.