Facile fabrication of superhydrophobic sand: Potential advantages for practical application in oil-water separation

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. In addition, 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. (C) 2015 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.