Self-Growth of MoS2 Sponge for Highly Efficient Photothermal Cleanup of High-Viscosity Crude Oil Spills

For dealing with crude oil spills, the high viscosity of crude oil greatly limits the absorption capacity of the absorbent materials, making crude oil a major obstacle in the cleaning process. Herein, a MoS 2 -rubber sponge (MoS 2 -RS), as a photothermal sorbent, is prepared by a one-step in situ synthesis. The sponge exhibits excellent superhydrophobicity (the water contact angle is 151°), a high absorption capacity for oils and organic liquids (15–67 g g −1 ), and an outstanding compressive elasticity of 38.6 kPa. Furthermore, MoS 2 -RS shows a good photothermal conversion capability. Under illumination, the viscosity of crude oil could be effectively reduced due to the rapid temperature rise in MoS 2 -RS. This response allows the modified sponge to quickly absorb crude oil, which significantly reduces the adsorption time of 20 µL crude oil from 16 h to 19 s when compared to that of absorbent materials without a photothermal conversion capability. Because of the excellent mechanical performance, MoS 2 -RS could be installed in a vacuum pump to continuously collect crude oil from the water surface. This setup greatly improves the crude oil collecting efficiency. The new photothermal absorbent material shows great potential for the collection of crude oil and the cleanup of spill accidents.