Porous cellulose acetate/carboxylated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CA/OMWNTs) monolith with superhydrophobicity (155°) and superoleophilicity (∼0°) was first prepared using a facile and green phase separation method. Benefiting from the unique three-dimensional… Click to show full abstract
Porous cellulose acetate/carboxylated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CA/OMWNTs) monolith with superhydrophobicity (155°) and superoleophilicity (∼0°) was first prepared using a facile and green phase separation method. Benefiting from the unique three-dimensional (3D) fiber cluster network structure, the as-prepared CA/OMWNTs monolith reveals a high porosity (93.7 %) and a large specific surface area (85.36 m2/g). As an oil adsorption material, the superhydrophobic porous monolith is able to adsorb the different kinds of organic solvents and oils from water efficiently and selectively with saturated adsorption capacities from 7.39 to 19.84 g g-1. Moreover, the porous monolith exhibits an excellent durability with the highly stable wettability and oil/water separation no matter at different pH (1-14) conditions or extreme temperatures (-20-160 °C). Besides, the CA/OMWNTs monolith also could continuously and rapidly separate oils/organic solvents from oil/water mixtures via a simple and home-made pump-assisted adsorption device, showing potential application in large-area remediation of oily wastewater.
               
Click one of the above tabs to view related content.