Mechanochemical robust, magnetic-driven, superhydrophobic 3D porous materials for contaminated oil recovery

Hypothesis Research on the fabrication of superwettable adsorbents based on 3D porous materials has been attracting considerable attention due to the large storage space presented in their inner bodies. However, it is rare to present a facile, eco-friendly and ultralow-cost approach to modify the 3D porous materials with magnetism thereby obtaining a remotely controllable superhydrophobic/superoleophilic material. Experiments Based on this, the 3D magnetic superhydrophobic porous materials (MSPM) based on adsorbent cotton and sponge as substrates were fabricated by a simple dip-coating method using non-hazardous chemical reagents as raw materials. Changes in pristine materials’ wettability during the fabrication process were illustrated gradually by SEM micrographs and XPS characterization. Findings The prepared 3D MSPM exhibits fast magnetic responsivity while the superwettable property of water contact angle reached to 162°, and demonstrated oil/water separation and demulsification with excellent adsorption capacity, high separation efficiency and good reusability. Moreover, the 3D MSPM maintains the superhydrophobicity even if compressed with 50% strain for 200 cycles, or immersed in a harsh chemical environment for more than 3 days. As a result, all these features make the as-prepared 3D MSPM possess a large range of applications in contaminated oil recovery.