High porosity and hydrophobic cellulosic sponges for oil absorption

Developing a reusable, low cost and biodegradable oil absorption material with high capacity remains a challenge. Herein, we demonstrate a facile and reliable methodology to construct a hydrophobic cellulose sponge from cellulose xanthate by regenerating cellulose and surface silanization using methyl trichlorosilane. The cellulose sponge presents high porosity of up to 87.46% which could be regulated with p-Toluenesulfonyl hydrazide. The sponge exhibits excellent structure stability, which could complete recovery from 90% compression strain and high durability (60 cycles at 90% stain). With a hydrophobic surface, it presents a high absorption capacity of over 30 times its weight for oils and organic solvents, indicating promising application in oil and water separation.