Fabrication of non-fluorinated superhydrophobic and flame retardant porous material for efficient oil/water separation

Abstract

Oil spill clean-up is a difficult process, and it is important to keep the spill contained by minimizing risk and collateral harm to natural resources. While there has been tremendous research and practical applications for the removal of oil and organic solvent from water, there are still a lot of disadvantages, such as the fabrication process being quite difficult, relatively expensive, and causing secondary contamination. This study aimed to find a more effective and environmentally friendly material for oil/water separation. We prepared simple, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly superhydrophobic activated carbon from leather trimming waste at 400 °C (LAC-400). The prepared activated carbon shows excellent water contact angle of 152 ± 2°. Superhydrophobic property of activated carbon without any other modification has never been reported to the best of our knowledge. This was coated on a melamine sponge (LACMS-400), which shows a water contact angle 158 ± 2°, which is higher than the activated carbon. This superhydrophobic activated carbon coated melamine sponge (LACMS-400) was used for oil/water separations and it demonstrated excellent absorption capacity ranging from 75.77 ± 0.83–141.24 ± 1.46 times higher than its mass for various types of oil and organic solvents. The quick absorption ability of LACMS-400 was studied at various soaking times and it absorbs oil and organic solvents very quickly. In 10 s, it absorbed silicone oil 60 times higher than its mass. Thus, LACMS-400 is an efficient, low-cost, environmentally friendly, and ideal candidate for the removal of oil and organic solvents from water.