One-Step Fabrication of Superhydrophobic/Superoleophilic Electrodeposited Polythiophene for Oil and Water Separation

A facile, one-step, and single-component fabrication of superhydrophobic and superoleophilic coating by electropolymerization of polythiophene on a stainless steel mesh is presented. The resulting coating has low surface energy and shows surface morphology bearing both micro- and nano-features without the need to add nanofillers, or pretreatment of the substrate to make it rough. The polythiophene coating also shows reversible wetting property (superhydrophobic to superhydrophilic, and vice versa) by electrochemical doping and dedoping. The coated mesh is shown to repel water of different pH (1, 7, and 14) and salt content. On the other hand, oil such as dichloromethane, gasoline, kerosene, dodecane, and crude oil can easily pass through the mesh. Therefore, the coated mesh is an excellent material for the separation of oil and water.