Novel All-Natural Material for Oil/Water Separation

Traditional oil/water separation materials were prepared with partial or all nonrenewable raw materials, which would not only increase resource consumption but also cause new environmental pollution after being abandoned. In this work, a superhydrophobic and superoleophilic oil/water separation all-natural material was prepared using a simple and fast emulsion immersing method. The raw materials used including natural sponges and natural vegetable waxes, all of which are renewable. The as-prepared all-natural material can not only absorb various oils from water with high oil absorption capacity, fast oil absorption rate, and good recyclability but also achieve reuse of the absorbed oil by squeezing. In addition, the as-prepared all-natural material exhibits strong stability against cyclic compression, excellent resistance to corrosive aqueous solutions contacting, and organic solvents immersing. Furthermore, the surface wax coating can be easily recycled. This work provides a new method to prepare oil/water separation materials by using all-natural and renewable raw materials.