MUSSEL-INSPIRED MODIFIED NATURAL SPONGE FOR OIL-WATER SEPARATION

摘要

It has become a worldwide challenge to solve oil spill accidents and the increasing amount of industrial organic pollutants. Oil sorbents have become one of the effective approaches for oil spill cleaning. A superhydrophobic natural sponge exhibits excellent performance in oil absorption to remove oils from water was fabricated through mussel-inspired one-step copolymerization approach. Dopamine and n-dodecanethiol were copolymerized in an alkaline aqueous solution to modify the surface of the natural sponges. Then, the superhydrophobic sponge was fabricated and its static contact angel with water can achieve 163.24(± 1.98)°. Because of the highly porous structure, the modified sponge exhibited desirable absorption capability of oils/organic solvents, suggesting promising sorbents for the removal of oils from water. After 30 absorption cycles of n-hexane, the superhydrophobic natural sponge still showed good absorption capability. All these merits make the modified natural sponge a competitive candidate for oil sorbent when compared to the conventional absorbents.