Facile and fast removal of oil through porous carbon spheres derived from the fruit of Liquidambar formosana

Porous carbon spheres with a diameter of 1-2 cm were prepared via a simple carbonization of the fruit of Liquidambar formosana. After carbonization, the spherical structure and inner finger-like pores were maintained with high resistance to impact. Due to the porous structure and the hydrophobic nature, the carbonized fruit of Liquidambar formosana can float on the water surface and show a super-fast oil or organic solvent sorption ability (sorption saturation can be achieved within 1-2 min). Moreover, about 99% of adsorbed oil can be easily removed from spheres via organic solvent such as ethanol or hexane, which shows good recyclability of samples. In general, considering the low-cost and abundance of raw material collected from nature and the facile synthetic process (only by carbonization), the centimeter-sized porous spheres via the carbonization of fruit of Liquidambar formosana are very promising to be used for the application of oil or organic solvent spill cleanup.