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One-step fabrication of a nickel foam-based superhydrophobic and superoleophilic box for continuous oil–water separation

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Abstract

Developing novel oil–water separation material, especially with uncomplicated fabrication and easily continuous separation procedure, is of great significance for environmental protection, but it is still a worldwide challenge. In this study, we present a simple one-step copolymerization method for fabrication organics coated three-dimensional material based on commercial nickel foam with dopamine and octadecylamine. The as-prepared nickel foam shows high superhydrophobicity with water contact angle (CA) of 154° ± 2°, water shedding angle of 4° ± 1° and superoleophilicity with oil CA of almost 0°. The as-prepared foam can fast and selectively remove oil from water due to its special wettability and porous structure. Besides, the foam can be manipulated to realize oil–water separation with a magnet bar due to its intrinsic magnetism. More interestingly, because of it being lightweight, and softness and toughness performance, the as-prepared foam can continuously remove and collect oil from water surface by folding it to a closed hollow box, which integrates the functions of oil containment boom, oil-absorption material and oil skimmer into one device. We believe that this research can provide a nice idea to design new material and device for practical oil–water separation.

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Acknowledgements

The research is financially supported by the National Young Top Talents Plan of China (2013042), National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51175066), FANEDD (201164), New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-12-0704), and the Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of Heilongjiang Province (JC201403).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing, 163318, People’s Republic of China

    Enqun Wang, Huaiyuan Wang, Zhanjian Liu, Ruixia Yuan & Yanji Zhu

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  1. Enqun Wang
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  2. Huaiyuan Wang
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  3. Zhanjian Liu
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  4. Ruixia Yuan
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  5. Yanji Zhu
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Correspondence to Huaiyuan Wang.

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Wang, E., Wang, H., Liu, Z. et al. One-step fabrication of a nickel foam-based superhydrophobic and superoleophilic box for continuous oil–water separation. J Mater Sci 50, 4707–4716 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-9021-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-9021-1

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