A superhydrophilic/air superoleophobic sponge based on low-temperature vacuum evaporation deposition modification for saving marine crude oil pollution and leakage

Oil pollution and crude oil leakage in the ocean have severely impacted marine ecology. The emergence of super-wetting materials provides a new approach to addressing the issue of oil leakage. Chemical vapor deposition, which can be applied to prepare super-wetting materials, is a method that can modify uniformly and enhance the stability of the material, while mostly needing to be performed at high temperatures. In this study, melamine sponge (MS) was preliminarily modified by low-temperature vacuum evaporation deposition (LTVED) of hydrolyzed gamma-mercaptopropyl triethoxy silane (KH580). The nano-silica and FS-50 were stepwise coated on the MS skeleton by a simple immersion-drying process. A superhydrophilic/air superoleophobic sponge (MS-KCSiF) as obtained with water contact angle of nearly 0 degrees and crude oil contact angle of approximately 154 degrees in the air, which can retain the wetting properties after immersion in different chemical solutions, ultraviolet irradiation aging, and mechanical destruction like cutting, twisting, bending, and pressing. Its efficiency for high-viscosity crude oil-seawater mixtures was maintained at over 96 % after 20 cycles. Empowered with the shape of mortise and tenon joint structure, MS-KCSiF can scoop up spilled crude oil from the sea surface. This strategy provides a new idea for the construction of super-wetting materials and oil spill collection.