A self-assembled superhydrophobic electrospun carbon-silica nanofiber sponge for selective removal and recovery of oils and organic solvents.

An oil spill needs timely cleanup before it spreads and poses serious environmental threat to the polluted area. This always requires the cleanup techniques to be efficient and cost-effective. In this work, a lightweight and compressible sponge made of carbon-silica nanofibers is derived from electrospinning nanotechnology that is low-cost, versatile, and readily scalable. The fabricated sponge has high porosity (>99 %) and displays ultra-hydrophobicity and superoleophilicity, thus making it a suitable material as an oil adsorbent. Owing to its high porosity and low density, the sponge is capable of adsorbing oil up to 140 times its own weight with its sorption rate showing solution viscosity dependence. Furthermore, sponge regeneration and oil recovery are feasible by using either cyclic distillation or mechanical squeezing.