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ABSTRACT
Due to the numerous incidents of oil spills and the increase in the production of industrial effluents containing oil, the separation of oil and water has become an important global issue. This research used a simple dip-coating method to fabricate a superhydrophobic polyurethane sponge using SiO2 nanoparticles and vinyl trimethoxy silane. XRD, FESEM, EDX, elemental mapping, FT-IR, DLS, and measurement of mechanical resistance, and water contact angle were used to characterise the desired sponge. The modified polyurethane sponge exhibited a water contact angle of 151.32 ± 1.06°. The sorption capacity of the desired sponge measured for various types of oily pollutants and organic solvents were in the range of 30.50 ± 2.04to 66.80 ± 1.64 g.g−1. The separation efficiency of the polyurethane sponge was in the range of 97.14 ± 0.40 to 99.15 ± 0.30. Furthermore, the ability of the desired sponge to separate the oil in the real effluent of the casting unit of a steel production company was investigated. Also, the reusability and the ability of removing emulsified oil droplets of the modified polyurethane sponge were studied. As a result, the as prepared polyurethane sponge can be considered a sorbent with the potential to separate oily pollutants from water and treat oily industrial wastewater.
Highlights
A superhydrophobic sponge was obtained using simple dip-coating method.
This superhydrophobic sponge excels in oil sorption and is reusable.
The prepared superhydrophobic sponge removes fine emulsified oil droplets.
Superhydrophobic sponge treated the steel company’s casting unit sample effectively.
Glossary
| Definition | = | Abbreviation |
| Polyurethane | = | PU |
| Water contact angle | = | WCA |
| Vinyl trimethoxy silane | = | VTMS |
| Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy | = | FESEM |
| Energy Dispersive X-ray | = | EDX |
| Fourier Transform Infrared | = | FT-IR |
| Dynamic Light Scattering | = | DLS |
| Tetraethyl orthosilicate | = | TEOS |
| Weight of wet sponge | = | mw |
| Weight of dry sponge | = | md |
| Density of ethanol | = | ρ |
| Volume of sponge | = | vs |
| Sorption capacity | = | Qe |
| Weigh of sponge after oil sorption | = | m1 |
| Weigh of sponge before oil sorption | = | m0 |
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Author contributions
Soheil Bahraminia: Investigation, Methodology, Writing original draft, Project administration.
Mansoor Anbia: Supervision, Resources, Validation, Writing- review and editing.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/03067319.2024.2348114.