Fabrication of hydrophobic-oleophilic zinc based composite material for oil/water separation

Herein we fabricated a hydrophobic-oleophilic and highly porous ZIF-۸ coated polyurethane sponge (ZCS) via the rapid in-situ implantation of ZIF-۸ crystals on polyurethane sponge substrate. The successful integration of polyurethane sponge and ZIF-۸ into one composite was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Water contact angle of raw sponge improved from ۹۶° to ۱۴۸° by the ZIF-۸ coating. Integrating the advantages of both materials, ZCS with great hydrophobicity-oleophilicity, high porosity and low density showed an outstanding oil/water separation performance as its massbased oil absorption capacity could reach up to ۳۷۰۰ wt% much higher than pure ZIF-۸, demonstrating its potential in cleaning up oil spills.