Facile preparation of superhydrophobic metal foam for durable and high efficient continuous oil-water separation

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2017-08, Vol.322, p.157-166
• Main Authors: Hu, Yue, Zhu, Yanji, Wang, Huaiyuan, Wang, Chijia, Li, Hongwei, Zhang, Xiguang, Yuan, Ruixia, Zhao, Yiming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Continuous oil-water separation; High efficiency; One-step spraying; Superhydrophobic durability
• ISSN: 1385-8947; 1873-3212
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2017.04.034

[Display omitted] •We prepared superhydrophobic and superoleophilic nickel foam by one-step spraying.•The 3D FPUH coated nickel foam could continuously collect the oil.•The 3D FPUH coated nickel foam showed excellent superhydrophobic durability and high oil/water separation efficiency.•After heat treatment, the static WCA of nickel foam could be restored to 150°. Foam-based material with unique wettability is one of the promising materials for developing oil-spill cleanup, benefiting from its intrinsic interconnected three-dimensional skeleton, oil permeation and water repellency. However, obtaining a foam-based material capable of in situ separating oil spills, especially with superhydrophobic durability and simple recycling mode, remains challenging. Herein, we reported a one-step spraying approach to fabricate fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/ultrafine polyurethane (UPU)/hydrophobic nanosilica (HSiO2)-decorated nickel foam coating with a static water contact angle (WCA) of 157±1.5° and a static oil contact angle (OCA) of 0°. Owing to the foldability of the coated nickel foam, we established a continuous in-situ collection apparatus by external pumping on 3D nickel foam box. UPU addition endowed the resultant 3D nickel foam with excellent interfacial adhesion. After 7days of continuous oil-water experiment that simulated cleanup oil-spill, the static WCA of the 3D nickel foam with 10wt% UPU was still above 130°. Notablely, after heat treatment at 240°C, the fabricated 3D nickel foam coating could be refreshed from the damaged surface to superhydrophobic.