Commercial polydimethylsiloxane modified melamine sponge for highly efficient oil-water separation

Abstract

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) considered a low surface energy material is widely used in (super)hydrophobic modification. In this paper, the high hydrophobic melamine sponges (MS) were modified with commercial aminopropyl functionalized polydimethylsiloxane (NH₂-PDMS) with different molecular mass. The chemical composition, surface morphology, and wettability of the NH₂-PDMS-modified MS were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and contact angle test. Owing to the porous structure and high hydrophobicity, NH₂-PDMS-modified MS possesses remarkable absorption capacity (ranging from 46 to 155 times their own mass). Simultaneously, it can effectively separate oil-water mixtures with high separation efficiencies exceeding 98.2%. NH₂-PDMS-modified MS has no obvious change after 10 cycles of oil-water separation. The results demonstrate PDMS molecular mass on surface can revise material properties and achieve high separation efficiencies in oil-water separation.

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