Low-Cost and Superhydrophobic Magnetic Foam as an Absorbent for Oil and Organic Solvent Removal

A convenient self-assembly method was developed to prepared a highly efficient and recyclable magnetic titanium dioxide foam by using polyethylene ordinary shock absorption foam as the support. The magnetic titanium dioxide foam acquired superhydrophobicity after a facile surface chemical modification process, and it could easily float on the water surface after selective absorption, exhibiting its excellent unsinkable property. The uptake capacity of the superhydrophobic magnetic foam was about 10 times that of the original shock absorption foam, making the as-obtained foam to be a kind of promising absorption material for oil/organic solvent removal. In addition, the superhydrophobic magnetic titanium dioxide foam could be simply recycled under the magnetic field and still retained excellent absorption capacity even after 80 absorption–desorption cycles, indicating its excellent durability. Moreover, the absorbed oils and organic solvents could be reclaimed through mechanical squeezing, which could avoid wasting of resources. The results implied that the as-prepared foam had practical applications in the treatment of oil leakage and the removal of organic solvents from wastewater.