Constructing polyurethane sponge modified with silica/graphene oxide nanohybrids as a ternary sorbent

• Synthesize hydrophobic SiO2/GO nanohybrids using alkyl-rich silicane.
• Construct ternary sorbent by dipping PU sponge into SiO2/GO ethanol–water solution.
• Obtain microporous, hydrophobic, flexible, durable ternary sorbent.
• Display high and quick sorption and well recyclability only by extrusion/sorption.
• Pave the way for constructing low-cost, mass production of hydrophobic sorbents.

A facile strategy was reported to synthesize silica nanoparticles-coated graphene oxide (SiO2/GO) nanohybrids using alkyl-rich silicane in GO ethanol–water solution at room temperature. The evenly dispersed silica nanoparticles covered on GO sheets tightly, which was demonstrated by the decrease of (0 0 2) diffraction peak of GO and decrease of Raman intensity I(D)/I(G) with increasing amount of silicane. Further exploration focused on constructing large surface area, microporous, and hydrophobic ternary sorbent by dipping the commercial polyurethane sponge into SiO2/GO nanohybrids ethanol–water solution without damaging the intrinsic structure of polyurethane sponge and no extra processing procedure. Sorption experiments were performed to test the performance of the obtained ternary sorbent using several organic solvent or oil as the simulated environmental pollutants and the results showed a decided advantage over the previously reported sorbents. The flexible but durable structure of the ternary sorbent exhibited not only excellent sorption ability amounting to 180 times of its own weight, but excellent recyclability which can be fully utilized by only extrusion/sorption. Interestingly, the methodology paved the way for constructing low-cost, mass production of hydrophobic sorbents for facile treatment of oil spillage and chemical leakage.

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