Fabrication Of Superhydrophobic Sponge Research Articles

Facile one-step fabrication of superhydrophobic melamine sponges by poly(phenol-amine) modification method for effective oil–water separation

Although polydopamine (PDA)-related modification is widely studied in the fabrication of superhydrophobic sponges, the high cost of dopamine limits its widespread application. To imitate PDA modification, a low-cost and facile one-step poly(phenol-amine) modification was performed on melamine sponges in this study. Low-cost catechol and diethylenetriamine (DETA) were used as the monomers, and n-dodecanethiol was used as an additive in the one-step modification. The results confirmed that the poly(phenol-amine) aggregations were successfully anchored on the sponge skeleton surface and that the aggregations were formed via the Schiff base reaction and the Michael addition reaction. Furthermore, the as-prepared sponges still showed excellent mechanical properties after modification. Additionally, the optimally modified sponge (MS-0.5) exhibited superhydrophobic properties with a contact angle value above 150° under various environments, high oil-absorption capacity for various oils and organic solvents, high continuous oil–water separation performance with efficiency greater than 98.8% in 30 cycles, outstanding demulsification performance with 99.52% toward oil-in-water emulsion, and excellent recoverability and long-term stability. Thus, this work provides a feasible facile one-step modification method that can be used in place of PDA-related modification.

One‐step fabrication of superhydrophobic sponge with magnetic controllable and flame‐retardancy for oil removing and collecting

AbstractWater pollution arising from oil spillage and chemical leakage has emerged as a critical problem imposing threat to the human and animal health. Effective removal of oils and chemical from water has become a global challenge. Recently, superhydrophobic/superoleophilic magnetic controllable (SHPB‐SOPI‐MC) porous materials have attracted more attention in the field of oil‐removing because of the high selectivity, large absorption capacity, easy collection, and ideal recyclability. Moreover, in order to keep safety, the fire proofing performance should be taken into consideration. Therefore, fabricating SHPB‐SOPI‐MC porous materials with flame‐retardancy through a low cost and simple strategy is necessary but also challenging. In this work, an ultrasound‐assisted dip‐coating method was applied to fabricate polydimethylsiloxane‐vermiculite‐Fe3O4 (PDMS‐VMT‐Fe3O4) coating onto discarded polyurethane (d‐PU) sponge, which exhibited superhydrophobic, superoleophilic, magnetic controllable, and flame‐resistant properties. The PDMS‐VMT‐Fe3O4@d‐PU sponge owned excellent mechanical durability, chemical stability, and long‐term storage stability. Importantly, the PDMS‐VMT‐Fe3O4@d‐PU sponge instantly adsorbed oil floating on water under magnetic field driving. Furthermore, PDMS‐VMT‐Fe3O4@d‐PU sponge absorbed various oils and chemical with ideal selectivity, absorption capacity (up to 40 times of its own weight), speed, and recyclability (exceeding 100 cycles). These findings suggested that PDMS‐VMT‐Fe3O4@d‐PU sponge was a promising oil‐removing material for practical application of oil spills cleanup.

Fabrication of superhydrophobic sponge with hierarchical structure and application for oil/water separation

ABSTRACTOil/water separation polyurethane sponge with hierarchically structured surface similar to the chemical/topological structures of lotus leaf has been successfully developed by combining mussel-inspired one-step copolymerization approach. The chemical structure, surface topography, and surface wettability of the sponge were characterized by FTIR, SEM, and contact angle experiments, respectively. The results showed that as-prepared sponge exhibited high oil absorption rate because of the expansion in oil and collapse in water of the polymer molecular brushes. Meanwhile, it also possessed high absorption capacity (20 times of the self-weight), high oil retention (93.7%), and good recyclability. It had excellent potential in practical applications.

Superhydrophobic silanized melamine sponges as high efficiency oil absorbent materials.

Superhydrophobic sponges and sponge-like materials have attracted great attention recently as potential sorbent materials for oil spill cleanup due to their excellent sorption capacity and high selectivity. A major challenge to their broad use is the fabrication of superhydrophobic sponges with superior recyclability, good mechanical strength, low cost, and manufacture scalability. In this study, we demonstrate a facile, cost-effective, and scalable method to fabricate robust, superhydrophobic sponges through the silanization of commercial melamine sponges via a solution-immersion process. The silanization was achieved through secondary amine groups on the surface of the sponge skeletons with alkylsilane compounds, forming self-assembled monolayers on the surface of sponge skeletons. This resulted in our ability to tune the surface properties of the sponges from being hydrophilic to superhydrophobic with a water contact angle of 151.0°. The superhydrophobic silanized melamine sponge exhibited excellent sorption capacity for a wide range of organic solvents and oils, from 82 to 163 times its own weight, depending on the polarity and density of the employed organic solvents and oils, and high selectivity and outstanding recyclability with an absorption capacity retention greater than 90% after 1000 cycles. These findings offer an effective approach for oil spill containment and environmental remediation.