A robust superhydrophobic TiO2 NPs coated cellulose sponge for highly efficient oil-water separation

作者：Zhang, Hui; Li, Yuqi; Lu, Zexiang; Chen, Lihui^*; Huang, Liulian; Fan, Mizi^*

来源：Scientific Reports, 2017, 7(1): 9428.

DOI：10.1038/s41598-017-09912-9

• SPRAY-COATING PROCESS
• VERSATILE FABRICATION
• NANOSTRUCTURE SURFACES
• WETTABILITY
• ULTRALIGHT
• AEROGEL
• MESH
• ADHESION
• FOAM

Oil-water separation has recently become a worldwide concern because of the increasing oil spill accidents and industrial oily wastewater generation. Herein, a facile method with the combined superhydrophobic coating and adhesive was used to fabricate superhydrophobic TiO2 NPs coated cellulose sponge. The developed materials exhibited excellent superhydrophobicity (WCA = 171 degrees) and superoleophilicity (OCA = 0 degrees), which can separate a variety of oil-water mixtures, including chloroform, toluene, kerosene and other contaminations. A high separation efficiency up to 98.5% for chloroform-water mixture was achieved when used for gravity-driven oil/water separation test. More importantly, the as-prepared samples exhibited excellent chemical stability and mechanical abrasion resistance even towards various corrosive oil/water mixtures (such as strong acid, alkali solution and salt-water environment) or a strong abrasion by aluminium oxide sandpaper of 600 mesh. In addition, the separation efficiency remained above 93% even after 40 scratch cycles, and the materials could be reused with a stable hydrophobicity, indicating a strong potential for industrial application.

• 出版日期2017-8-25
• 单位福建农林大学