Preparation of superhydrophobic sponge and its adsorption performance for xylene

A simple and fast modification method was introduced to fabricate super-hydrophobic sponge material. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and modified SiO2 nanoparticles were applied to establish water-repellent coatings on the surface of nano-sponge. Surface group (infrared radiation), hydrophobic property and surface morphology (SEM) were studied. And the adsorption capacity and recycling performance for xylene of super-hydrophobic sponge were also investigated. In order to testify its industrial application performance for xylene adsorption, the recovery laboratory equipment loaded with modified sponge was manufactured. The results showed that the superhydrophobic coating on the surface of modified sponge was complete and uniform, and the surface roughness was significantly improved. In the IR spectrum of modified sponge, the characteristic peak of O-Si-O was emerged, which fully proved that the hydrophobic SiO2 particle was loaded on the surface. Thus, the water contact angle of the modified sponge can be improved to 150°, which showed the super-hydrophobicity. The sorption capacity for xylene reached 41.45g/g, which can still achieve 93% after 500 cycles of absorption and desorption. The recovery device loaded with the sponge also had a good recovery rate (152.83L/h) and efficiency (99%) of m-xylene, and it remained satisfactory recovery performance even after 58h operation. © 2020, Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd. All right reserved.