Superhydrophobic Treatment of Polyurethane Sponge and Its Application in Oil-water Separation

The superhydrophobicity of the polyurethane sponge was realized by attaching the complex of copper and mercaptan on the outer surface of the polyurethane sponge. As a special case, the complex of 1-dodecanthiol and copper chloride was intensively investigated in this study, with emphasis on the influences of concentration, temperature and residence time on the reaction. SEM and EDS were used to analyze the surface structure and elemental composition of the sponge. The superhydrophobicity of the sponge are contributed by the rough treatment on sponge surface. It is found that a large number of long carbon chains appear on the surface reduces the surface energy. The wettability of the surface was determined by a contact angle meter. The material demonstrates great oil-water separation performance and high repeatability in superhydrophobicity during the the separation process of oil and water before first 39 times.