Superhydrophobic/ superoleophilic polystyrene-based porous material with superelasticity for highly efficient and continuous oil/water separation in harsh environments

Three-dimensional separation materials with robust physical/chemical stability have great demand for effective and continuous separation of immiscible oil/water mixtures and water-in-oil emulsions, resulting from chemical leakages and discharge of industrial oily wastewaters. Herein, a superelastic polystyrene-based porous material with superhydrophobicity/superoleophilicity was designed and prepared by high internal phase emulsion polymerization to meet the aforementioned requirements. A flexible and hydrophobic aminopropyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane (NH2-PDMS-NH2) segment was introduced into the rigid styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer through 1, 4-conjugate addition reaction with trimethylolpropane triacrylate. The addition of NH2-PDMS-NH2 simultaneously improved the mechanical and hydrophobic properties of the porous material (the water contact angle from 141.2° to 152.2°). The material exhibited outstanding reversible compressibility (80% strain, even in liquid N2 environments) and superhydrophobic stability, even after being repeatedly compressed 100 times, water contact angle still remained above 150°. Meanwhile, the as-prepared material had outstanding hydrophobic stability in corrosive solutions (strong acidic, alkaline, high-salty, and even strong polar solvent), presence of mechanical interference, strong UV radiations, and high/low temperature environments. More importantly, the material could continuously and efficiently separate immiscible oil/water mixture and water-in-oil emulsions under the above conditions, showing huge potential for the large-scale remediation of complex oily wastewaters.