Superhydrophobic, flame-retardant and magnetic polyurethane sponge for oil-water separation

With the increasing environmental pollution by frequent spill accidents and industrial wastewater emissions, superhydrophobic materials for oil-water separation have attracted considerable attention. Herein, we proposed a facile method to prepare superhydrophobic, flame-retardant and magnetic polyurethane sponge (SFRM-PUS) for oil-water separation. Firstly, pristine PUS was immersion-coated with ferric oxide (Fe 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles , graphene oxide (GO) and phytic acid, and then treated with hydroiodic acid (HI) to reduce GO and modified with perfluorooctyltriethylsilane to provide low surface energy . The SFRM-PUS had a high water contact angle of 156° and a low water sliding angle of 8.9°, and exhibited excellent anti-adhesion property and high oil-water separation efficiency of 98.9%. By means of the magnetic property, the SFRM-PUS was also applied for the removal of oil from water in specified area. In addition, the SFRM-PUS showed superior flame-retardant performance, and the ignited flame extinguished within only 4 s. Our findings conceivably provided a new strategy to prepare functional superhydrophobic materials for the treatment of oil spill accidents and industrial sewage emissions.