A superhydrophobic poly(dimethylsiloxane)-TiO2 coated polyurethane sponge for selective absorption of oil from water

The development of promising superhydrophobic absorption materials for the treatment of oil spills and chemical leakage is significant to environmental protection. Herein, a novel superhydrophobic poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-TiO2 coated polyurethane (PU) sponge was facilely fabricated by sol-gel growth of TiO2 nanoparticles on the surface of PU sponge, followed by in situ polymerization of PDMS. The as-prepared PDMS-TiO2-PU sponge shows a superhydrophobic surface with a water contact angle of 154° and exhibits high sorption capacities of more than 16.7 g g−1 for the studied oils and organic compounds, such as pump oil, diesel oil, silicone oil, edible oil, kerosene, dichloromethane, and chloroform. Fast sorption speed and high sorption selectivity are achieved for diesel oil sorption. The absorbed oil can be retrieved by simple mechanical extruding the sponge, and the recovered sponge can be used repeatedly over 60 times without obvious decrease in sorption capacity. These results suggest that the prepared PDMS-TiO2-PU sponge may be used in the cleanup of oil spills and the removal of organic pollutants from water.