One-pot room-temperature synthesis of covalent organic framework-coated superhydrophobic sponges for highly efficient oil-water separation

Jing Li; Yixin Yang; Wende Ma; Guorong Li; Qiaomei Lu; Zian Lin

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125190

One-pot room-temperature synthesis of covalent organic framework-coated superhydrophobic sponges for highly efficient oil-water separation

J Hazard Mater. 2021 Jun 5:411:125190. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125190. Epub 2021 Jan 21.

Authors

Jing Li¹, Yixin Yang¹, Wende Ma¹, Guorong Li¹, Qiaomei Lu¹, Zian Lin²

Affiliations

¹ Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Analysis and Detection for Food Safety, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Analysis and Detection Technology for Food Safety, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350108, China.
² Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Analysis and Detection for Food Safety, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Analysis and Detection Technology for Food Safety, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350108, China. Electronic address: zianlin@fzu.edu.cn.

PMID: 33858120
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.125190

Abstract

Frequent oil-spill accidents not only cause serious and long-term damage to marine ecosystems, but also lead to a huge loss of valuable natural resources. To lighten the environmental pollution of oil spills as quickly as possible, an efficient and environment-friendly approach for oil-water separation is highly desirable. Herein, a facile one-pot room-temperature approach was developed for large-scale fabrication of covalent organic framework-coated superhydrophobic sponges (sponges@COFs). The as-prepared sponges@COFs possessed many superior properties, including superhydrophobicity with the water contact angle of approximately 154.3°, large specific surface area (153.059 m²/g), high porosity of the network structures, as well as good mechanical and chemical stability. Taking the aformentioned advantages together, the superhydrophobic sponges showed ultra-high adsorption capacity for oil and various organic solvents. In comparision with its own weight, the adsorption amount of the sponges@COFs for silicone oil was up to 150 times and for toluene was 125 times, respectively. Furthermore, the superhydrophobic sponges also showed fast and highly efficient oil-water separation, outstanding flame retardancy and recyclability. In addition, the sponges@COFs were successfully applied to the high-efficiency removal of oil suspension from industrial waste water, firmly confirming their application prospect in industrial wastewater treatment.

Keywords: Covalent organic framework; Oil-water separation; One-pot room-temperature synthesis; Superhydrophobic sponges.