Eco-friendly and facile modified superhydrophobic melamine sponge by molybdenum sulfide for oil/water separation

Oily wastewater has caused serious damage to the human health and ecological environment. It is urgent to develop novel materials for high performance oil/water separation. Porous melamine sponges (MS) are considered as an ideal matrix material for oil/water separation. Herein, molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) modified with tannic acid (TA) and octadecylamine (ODA) was attached to MS framework via a facile dip-coating method. This novel and eco-friendly MS@(MoS2@ODA) sponge displays superior superhydrophobicity (WCA = 156.2 degrees) and oil/water separation ability (absorption capacity = 113-145 g g(-1)). MoS2@ODA not only enhances surface roughness of MS framework, but also raises its specific surface area, causing an increase in the oil adsorption capacity of MS. Moreover, the composite sponge exhibited excellent chemical and mechanical stability. It is envisioned that this work can demonstrate a facile synthesis strategy for producing environmental friendliness MS with stable superhydrophobicity for high-efficient oil/water separation.