Coating sponge with a hydrophobic porous coordination polymer containing a low-energy CF3-decorated surface for continuous pumping recovery of an oil spill from water

Abstract

For the remediation of oil spills and organic solvent leakage into water, it is desirable to develop not only advanced sorbents with a high adsorption capability but also labor-and time-saving apparatuses that can work continuously without human intervention. In this work, we synthesized a novel and highly stable porous coordination polymer (PCP, also called metal-organic framework), University of Science and Technology of China-6 (USTC-6), with a corrugated -CF 3 surface that features high hydrophobicity. The uniform growth of USTC-6 throughout a graphene oxide (GO)-modified sponge was achieved and yielded a macroscopic USTC-6@GO@sponge sorbent, which repels water and exhibits a superior adsorption capacity for diverse oils and organic solvents. Remarkably, the sorbent can be further assembled with tubes and a self-priming pump to build a model apparatus that affords consecutive and efficient oil recovery from water. The easy and fast recovery of oils/organic solvents from water based on such an apparatus indicates that it has great potential for future water purification and treatment.

Shape Controlled Hierarchical Porous Hydrophobic/Oleophilic Metal‐Organic Nanofibrous Gel Composites for Oil Adsorption

“…[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] A great effort has been dedicated to fabricating porous materials with hierarchical porosity with a large specific surface area and being water resistant. Stable hydrophobic MOFs were prepared using hydrophobic functional (F and alkyl) organic linkers or through postsynthetic modification of MOF using hydrophobic groups; although, one cannot rely on many typical MOFs for the oil adsorption due to their microchannels.…”

Application of porous materials in oil substances separation from water

“…Sorbents are materials with high affinity to oils and a little to water, which due to two simultaneously occurring processes: adsorption (involving the oil adhesion to the surface of the sorbent, the extent of which depends on the viscosity of the oil) and absorption (consisting in filling the pores of the material by oil, which can be taken out of the water along with the sorbent due to the capillary force) allow for the removal of toxic oil substances from water in a non-invasive manner [9]. Among the most important material properties affecting the efficiency of oil removal from water, a high absorption capacity is mentioned in relation to the most of the oily substances [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. The experiment demonstrated that the most effective materials in lowering the n-alkanes concentrations within the range of C7H16-C38H78 (these alkanes compose the oil contamination [2]) include birch bark and glass wool.…”

“…One such method is based on sorption, i.e. the physical method of de-oiling, during which two processes occur simultaneously: absorption of oil within the pores and voids of sorbent as well as oil adsorption on its surface [6,15]. Among sorbents, materials of a porous nature are the most commonly used.…”

Hydrophobic Metal–Organic Frameworks: Assessment, Construction, and Diverse Applications

“…The results indicated the presence of an adsorption competition between water and toluene in the adsorbents. Many studies have also shown the great potential of hydrophobic MOFs or their derived materials for bulk oil/water separation and bulk oil adsorption from water for the cleanup of oil spills . The removal of other types of harmful or useful gases or organic substances, such as ethylene, acetic acid, thiophene, peptides, aromatic amino acids, and pharmaceuticals, from air or water by hydrophobic MOFs and their derived materials has also been documented.…”