Construction of superhydrophobic copper film on stainless steel mesh by a simple liquid phase chemical reduction for efficient oil/water separation

摘要

Herein, we present a simple, easily operated, and inexpensive approach to fabricate superhydrophobic and superoleophilic stainless steel mesh via in-situ growth of copper (Cu) nanoparticles and the hydrophobic modification. The obtained meshes exhibit favorable resistance to mechanical abrasion, corrosive aqueous solutions, and hot water (90 degrees C). More importantly, the fabricated meshes can be used to separate a series of oil/water mixtures under harsh (hot or corrosive water) conditions with a separation efficiency of over 98%. Besides, the mesh can be designed into an oil collector via loading unmodified polyurethane (PU) sponge in the folded mesh box, which can quickly and selectively remove oil pollutants floating on water surface. Therefore, it can be expected that the as-prepared mesh with good superhydrophobicity and easy operated fabrication process may provide a candidate not only for gravity driven oil/water separation but also for designing many other oil collector.