A robust and coarse surface mesh modified by interpenetrating polymer network hydrogel for oil‐water separation

ABSTRACT A robust and coarse surface mesh was fabricated by introducing a hydrogel coating with interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) structure on stainless steel mesh. The IPN hydrogel was prepared by crosslinking polymerization of acrylic acid (AA) followed by condensation reaction of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and glutaraldehyde (GA) at room temperature. As a result, the roughness of modified mesh was enhanced obviously and oil droplet underwater showed a larger contact angle. The hydrogel‐coated surface showed an underwater superoleophobicity with an oil contact angle of 153.92 ± 1.08 ° . Besides, stable wettability was observed. The mesh can selectively separate oil from water with a high separation efficiency of above 99.8%. This work provides a facile method to strengthen the coating and enhance the efficiency of oil‐water separation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132 , 41949.