Hydrophobic Sponge for Spilled Oil Absorption

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. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.