Ce-MOF-based superhydrophobic polyurethane sponge reinforced by cellulose for efficient oil-water separation

It is extremely significant to manufacture materials with simple and low-cost synthetic method for the disposal of large-scale oil spills and environmental pollution caused by the illegal discharge of oily wastewater. In this paper, cerium metal-organic framework (Ce-MOF), 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H perfluorodecyltrimethoxysilane (PFOTS) and cellulose were used as raw materials to prepare polyurethane hydrophobic sponges (PU) interconnected by chemical bonds to improve physical properties performance. The sponge shows excellent superhydrophobicity with a surface water contact angle (WCA) of 152.53 ± 0.8°. It has high mechanical strength and oil absorption capacity for various oils/organic solvents up to 15.0–44.9 times its weight. It is more imortant that C–F–[email protected] can separate immiscible oil-water mixtures driven by vacuum pump or gravity. Superhydrophobic/oleophilic C–F–[email protected] can also be used to separate water-in-oil emulsions. The above characteristics provide a reference for its practical application in oil-water separation.