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Hydrophobic sponge for spilled oil absorption
Author(s) -
Peng Lei,
Yuan Shuai,
Yan Ge,
Yu Ping,
Luo Yunbai
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.40886
Subject(s) - sponge , absorption capacity , polyurethane , absorption (acoustics) , reusability , selectivity , materials science , oil spill , chemical engineering , environmental pollution , absorption of water , contact angle , environmental science , organic chemistry , chemistry , composite material , environmental engineering , geology , environmental protection , computer science , engineering , catalysis , paleontology , software , programming language
As the ecological damage caused by marine oil spills has become one main threat to marine ecological security, materials that can reduce environmental pollution are in high demand. In this study, a simple low‐cost method for fabricating a hydrophobic polyurethane sponge was investigated. Its hydrophobicity was evaluated through the measurement of the contact angles of water and oil. The mechanical properties, oil‐absorption capacity, and selectivity were also tested. The results show that this sponge exhibited good mechanical properties, a high absorption capacity and selectivity, and a high reusability (>200 times) in oil–water separation. More importantly, the absorbed oil could be collected by simple squeezing. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131 , 40886.