Fabrication of superhydrophobic melamine sponges by thiol-ene click chemistry for oil removal

A superhydrophobic melamine sponge was fabricated by a facile method of photoinitiated thiol-ene click chemistry. The resultant sponge exhibited excellent water repellency with a water contact angle of 152.8 degrees and could not only absorb various organic compounds with absorption capacities of 72-160 times its own weight, but also selectively and continuously remove oil from water. More importantly, the sponge still maintained a high absorption capacity after reused 16 times by sorption/squeezing. Additionally, the superhydrophobic sponge could also be used as a filter to separate oil/water mixtures successfully. These results suggest that the resultant superhydrophobic melamine sponge may provide great potential application for oil removal. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.