Synthesis and characterization of highly efficient oil–water separation, recyclable, magnetic particles CoFe2O4/SDB

In the oil–water separation, the difficulty to recover and low hydrophobicity are key limitation factors for practical applications. In this paper, we design Cobalt ferrite hybrid Polystyrene divinylbenzene microspheres (CoFe 2 O 4 /SDB), which were conducted through in situ suspension copolymerization. The CoFe 2 O 4 is prepared by low heat solid phase sol-gel method. It had been found that the CoFe 2 O 4 /SDB have a spherical structure, good adsorption behavior, highly hydrophobicity and even superhydrophobicity. The adsorption capacity of CoFe 2 O 4 /SDB composites could absorb kerosene up to 6 times of its own weight. Interestingly, kerosene can be easily separated from the surface of CoFe 2 O 4 /SDB particles with ultrasonic operation. CoFe 2 O 4 /SDB particles can still maintain good hydrophobicity and adsorption capacity of kerosene after 11 cycles after drying. With in situ polymerization of St:DVB and CoFe 2 O 4 , CoFe 2 O 4 /SDB as a promising absorbent of kerosene which has great potential in application of oil–water separation.