Development of cost-effective and handy functional materials that can separate oil from water readily by a convenient method is highly desirable and still challenge. Herein, sand-based superhydrophobic surfaces were easily achieved by coating sand particles with silane, and the whole fabrication process was time-saving and facile to carry out. The superhydrophobic surfaces can be applied as an oil sorbent scaffold to absorb oil from water selectively because of their water-repelling and oil-attracting properties. Additionally, the time required for oil-water separation was shortened significantly by combining the separation process with a vacuum system. Importantly, the superhydrophobic surfaces can maintain their high selectivity and separation efficiency even after several cycles of oil-water separation，thus providing great potential and advantage for practical application in oil-water separation.

A simple fabrication method for a smooth and transparent liquid-repellent film has been presented, and the smooth film was successfully obtained through sol-gel process with (3-Glycidyloxypropyl)-trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) followed by surface treatment of air plasma and fluorination. Combination of hydrolyzing of GPTMS and the surface treatment can form covalently interfacial interaction and further enhance surface robustness of the smooth film. The smooth film displays non-wetting behavior towards water and many organic liquids with very low surface tension, such as N-hexane (γ lν =18.4 mN/m) and Petroleum ether (γ lν =17.5 mN/m); meanwhile, optical transmittance of the smooth film is greater than 86% throughout a broad spectrum of ultraviolet and visible wavelengths. Importantly, mechanical durability of the obtained film surface was proved by tests of rubbing, wiping, thumb pressing, and peeling of adhesive tape. More surprisingly, the rubbing process can enhance surface

Two modified mesoporous silica (KIT-6) materials for absorbing uranium(VI) were prepared respectively via post-grafting of 8-hydroxyquinoline and 8-hydroxyquinoline onto surface of KIT-6, which were characterized by FT-IR, NMR, TEM, and sorption/desorption analysis. Effect of pH values, contact time, ionic strength, solid-liquid ratio, temperature, and coexisting ions on sorption behavior of the modified KIT-6 were also investigated. Typical sorption isotherms (Langmuir and Freundlich) were used to determine the sorption process and the maximum U(VI) sorption capacity. The results indicate that the two modified KIT-6 exhibit better selective sorption of U(VI) as compared to the original KIT-6.

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