Highly hydrophobic ZIF-8 particles and application for oil-water separation

ZIF-8(zinc-methylimidazolate framework-8), one of the zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), was put into a tea bag for selective removal of oils from water surface, and exhibits strong hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 142°, ZIF-8 particles combined with highly hydrophobic and superoleophilic properties. Our Experiment results showed that the highly hydrophobic ZIF-8 particles and the ZIF-8/tea bag could be reused in oil-water separation for twenty cycles. More importantly, the oil could be readily removed from the surfaces of particles by heating combined with reduced pressure treatment whereas the particles still kept highly hydrophobic and superolephilic characteristics, which render its potential applications in the cleanup of oil spills and the removal of organic pollutants on water surface.