Fabrication of superhydrophobic polyurethane sponge coated with oil sorbent derived from textile sludge for oily wastewater remediation

Owing to the incline in oil spills and oily wastewater released in marine waters, development of cost-effective and eco-friendly strategies is in urgent demand. Herein, we report a simple and cost-effective method for the fabrication of superhydrophobic-superoleophilic and eco-friendly polyurethane sponge for the sorption of oil from wastewater. Sponge was refurbished by applying textile sludge derived biochar and polydimethylsiloxane using dip coating method. Structural and chemical characterization of the Biochar: Polydimethylsiloxane nanohybrid embedded PU sponge was examined by Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller and X-Ray Diffraction. The prepared adsorbent efficiently separated diesel from wastewater with maximum sorption capacity of 26.88 g g−1 followed by benzene, petrol and toluene with sorption capacities of 20.92 g g−1, 20.91 g g−1 and 20.44 g g−1, respectively within seconds of immersion. Least sorption capacity (13.01 g g−1) was recorded for Kerosene. Quadrupole-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry accredited for nanohybrid’s stability. The synthesized adsorbent showed excellent reusability up-to 8 cycles, suggesting its practical applicability. Thus, the current study inferred that Biochar: Polydimethylsiloxane nanohybrid embedded Polyurethane sponge could be used as a proficient adsorbent for the removal of various contaminants in oil wastewater.