Facile fabrication of a free-standing superhydrophobic and superoleophilic carbon nanofiber-polymer block that effectively absorbs oils and chemical pollutants from water

Carbon Nanofiber/SiO2 Nanoparticle/HDPE Composites as Physically Resilient and Submersible Water-Repellent Coatings on HDPE Substrates

“…The inclusion of additives is one approach frequently used to combat physical resilience concerns, e.g., synthetic and natural fibers . Carbon nanofibers (CNFs), in particular, are known for their exceptional mechanical properties and have been used to impart resilience within superhydrophobic composites and, in some cases, have been dually employed as the roughening agent . However, research that targets enhanced physical durability through direct use of fibers, typically involves fabricating free-standing objects, i.e., not attached to an external substrate/support (e.g., electrospun membranes, natural monoliths, and use of molds/templates), therefore, limiting their current usage to aid the physical resilience of surface coatings. − Alternatively, novel methods to enhance underwater stability have been reported, including bioinspired nanofur with an applied hydraulic pressure to prevent plastron destabilization, and in situ gas generation via the catalytic degradation of hydrogen peroxide for plastron regeneration. , Although these are both highly innovative approaches, the scalability and practicality of such methods are uncertain.…”

One‐step fabrication of superhydrophobic sponge with magnetic controllable and flame‐retardancy for oil removing and collecting

“…Recently, severe water pollution resulting from oil and its derivatives leakages (such as Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010, Agia Zoni tanker sank of Greece in 2017 and the Sanchi tanker sank of East China Sea in 2018) during the processes of producing, transporting, and using threatened every species in the ecological system from low-grade algae to higher mammals, including human beings. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] What is more, the long-term ecological perniciousness of the spilled oils could last for several decades. As a result, separating and collecting oil from oily wastewater will not only protect environment, but also save energy, which is contributed to the global sustainable development.…”

“…[11,12] Current cleanup strategies for removing oil and its derivatives from water can be divided into three broad categories: (a) physical methods using oil sorbent materials, oil vessel skimmers, and oil containment booms; (b) chemical methods using in situ combustion, solidifiers, and dispersers; (c) biological methods using bioremediation. [4] Among these methods, the removal and collection of oil and its derivatives from water using adsorption material is considered as one of the most economical and effective strategies because of the simple operation process and escapable secondary pollution. [13] Common absorbent materials, such as clay, zeolites, activated carbon, straw, resin, fly ash, cotton, and wooden chips, had been used to capture oil spills on the water surface.…”

“…Porous materials with water-repellent (superhydrophobic) and oil-attracting (superoleophilic) properties had come to be recognized as the ideal candidate to remove oil and its derivatives from water surfaces because oil and its derivatives were allowed to penetrate through them while preventing water from doing so. [4,17] However, these d-PU sponges were not good oil absorbents by themselves because they adsorb oil and water at the same time. Therefore, in this regard, altering surface wettability should be a simple and effective route to enhance the overall absorption performance of d-PU sponges.…”

One-step synthesis of a steel-polymer wool for oil-water separation and absorption

“…Methods such as in situ burning, dispersing factors, solidifiers, enhanced bioremediation, skimmers, and booms have been utilized to clean up oil spills, but they generally have low separation efficiency, limited sorption capacity and recyclability, and high operation costs, and they can even introduce secondary pollution during the clean-up process. [7][8][9][10] Solutions that use superwetting materials have also been explored, mainly based on absorbency treatment and direct oil-water separation (filtration treatment), and encouraging outcomes have been achieved. 11,12 A wide range of superwetting materials that are superhydrophobic, superoleophilic, and superoleophobic under water have shown significant promise for oil-water separation, 13,14 including carbonaceous hydrogels/aerogels, 15 sponges, 16 and films 17 and manganese nanowires.…”