Magnetically Driven Superhydrophobic Polyurethane Sponge for High Efficiency Oil/Water Mixtures Separation

Magnetically driven super-hydrophobic materials were prepared by Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles and stearic acid, which were deposited on the surface of polyurethane sponges. The presence of the Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles makes the sponge have the magnetic, and the micro-nano hierarchical structure and hydrophobic functional groups lead to the sponge have excellent superhydrophobicity. The as-prepared sponge exhibited excellent absorption capacities for various oils and organic solvents ranging from 23.8 times to 86.7 times of its own weight. Moreover, the oil separation capacities still keep a high value after 50 cycles of squeezing the saturated absorbed as-prepared sponge. All of these satisfactory properties make the as-prepared sponge as a candidate of ideal absorbents for oily industrial wastewater and oil spills in oceans.