Facile synthesis of superhydrophobic ZIF-8/bismuth oxybromide photocatalyst aerogel for oil/water separation and hazardous pollutant degradation

How to efficiently treat dissolved and insoluble pollutants in water is a difficult problem. In the presence of ZIF-8 and BiOBr, superhydrophobic aerogel with oil/water separation and photodegradation performance was prepared by simply dipping the functional composite material in the support surface of the melamine sponge. The problem of surface oil pollution can be solved using its superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity. The existence of BiOBr in aerogels makes it possible for the pollutants dissolved in water to degrade under light irradiation. The band gap width of BiOBr ( E g  = 2.6 eV) and the density of the photogenerated carriers (5.21 × 10 23  cm −3 ) were determined by DRS and the Mott–Schottky curve, respectively. The positions of the valence band (2.97 eV) and conduction band (0.37 eV) were confirmed by theoretical calculation. The robustness between the functional coating and the substrate was ensured through 4000 friction (1.06 × 10 5  Pa) and 100 compression tests, which shows good mechanical stability of the material. This study is expected to provide a new way of thinking with regard to water pollution treatment and material multi-function.