Rapid adsorption for oil using superhydrophobic and superoleophilic polyurethane sponge

BACKGROUND: Cleanup of oil spills is a worldwide task needed to avoid serious environmental pollution. Recently, polyurethane (PU) sponge has been used as an oil absorbent, however, its efficacy is limited by its hydrophilic property. RESULTS: This work describes the modification of PU sponge with Z...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of chemical technology and biotechnology (1986) 2015-11, Vol.90 (11), p.2106-2112
Main Authors: Li, Beibei, Liu, Xiaoyan, Zhang, Xinying, Zou, Junchen, Chai, Wenbo, Lou, Yanyan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adsorbents
Adsorption
coatings
Contact angle
energy
hydrophilicity
hydrophobicity
oil spills
oils
palmitic acid
pollution
Polyurethane resins
polyurethane sponge
polyurethanes
rapid adsorption
sampling
Sponges
superhydrophobic
superoleophilic
Surface chemistry
Surface energy
Water pollution
Zinc oxide
ZnO microrod
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Summary:BACKGROUND: Cleanup of oil spills is a worldwide task needed to avoid serious environmental pollution. Recently, polyurethane (PU) sponge has been used as an oil absorbent, however, its efficacy is limited by its hydrophilic property. RESULTS: This work describes the modification of PU sponge with ZnO microrods and palmitic acid (PA). A coating of ZnO microrods made the surface of PU sponge rough, which improved the hydrophobicity and oil‐adsorption capacity of the sponge. Further immersion in PA solution reduced the surface energy, which enabled the rough surface to be superhydrophobic (water contact angle (CA) > 150°). The contact angles of water and oil on the prepared ZnO and PA modified (ZnO‐PA sponge) sponge were 168.9° and 0°, respectively. Adsorption capacities of ZnO‐PA sponge varied between 33 and 44 g g⁻¹ for different oil samples, which were higher than those of the non‐modified PU sponge (21–23 g g⁻¹). Adsorption equilibrium for the adsorption process of ZnO‐PA sponge was achieved within tens of seconds. Additionally, the ZnO‐PA sponge showed excellent selectivity for oil over water, and high reusability. CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that the superhydrophobic PU sponge was a promising oil adsorbent for large‐scale oil‐spill collection. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry
ISSN:0268-2575
1097-4660
DOI:10.1002/jctb.4646