Superhydrophobic P (St-DVB) foam prepared by the high internal phase emulsion technique for oil spill recovery

• The highly porous P (St-DVB) foam was fabricated in just one-step process.
• The foam exhibited superhydrophobicity with water contact angle exceeding 150°.
• The oil absorption capacity of the composite material reached as high as 57.6 g/g.
• The foam could be regenerated and showed superior recyclability.

Poly (styrene-divinylbenzene) (P (St-DVB)) foams with porosity as high as 98% were prepared by the method of high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) in one-step process. The materials exhibited superhydrophobicity and excellent oleophilicity, with the water contact angle (WCA) even exceeding 150° and oil contact angle approaching 0°. The materials fabricated with different types of Fe3O4 particles had varied hierarchical pore structures. And the adsorption capacity of the monolithic foam towards chloroform was as high as 57 g/g. Importantly, the materials soaked with oil could be regenerated effectively by means of centrifugation with oil recovery rate reaching 90%. More importantly, the monolithic PolyHIPEs (polymers obtained by the polymerization of the HIPEs) were subjected to 20 adsorption-centrifugation cycles and superior reusability was demonstrated. These features achieved with PolyHIPEs made them ideal candidates for practical oil removal applications.

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