Hybrid Structured Photothermal Superhydrophobic Copper Foam for Fast Adsorption of Highly Viscous Crude Oil

Industrial oily wastewater and marine oil spill accidents have caused great damage to the global ecological environment, and there is a requirement for materials that can effectively separate and collect oil. Here, based on copper oxide, cuprous oxide (Cu2O), silver (Ag), and polydimethylsiloxane, a kind of superhydrophobic and superoleophilic PDMS@Ag@CuO/Cu2O@cf (copper foam) with good photothermal performance was prepared by alkali etching and redox reaction. Benefiting from its selective adsorption of water or oil, this PDMS@Ag@CuO/Cu2O@cf can not only rapidly adsorb organic solvents (such as dichloromethane and n-hexane) but also exhibit good separation performance for oil-in-water emulsions. In addition, the prepared copper foam can generate abundant heat under the irradiation of sunlight, which can accelerate the adsorption rate of viscous crude oil by reducing its viscosity. This photothermal superhydrophobic copper foam has potential in the treatments of ocean oil spills and oily wastewater in daily life.