One-pot synthesis of acrylate resin and ZnO nanowires composite for enhancing oil absorption capacity and oil-water separation

Inspired by the fast separation of oils, we synthesized a multi-functional oil-absorbable material, ZnO nanowires/acrylic ester composite resin, via a facile and cost-effective suspension polymerization method. Especially, the ZnO nanowires were fabricated by hydrothermal method and the surface of superhydrophobic and superoleophilic ZnO nanowires was modified by A151. Various technologies such as FT-IR, XRD, SEM, and DSC-TG have been used to investigate the properties of the as-synthesized materials. The corresponding oil absorption results showed that the composite resins could effectively separate organics from wastewater. Moreover, the composite resins were proved to have an excellent reusability after 10 cycles and the antibacterial activity of the synthesized composite resins mixed with ZnO nanowires were confirmed against E. coli and S. aureus, which could play an important role in water purification. Herein, the as-synthesized multi-functional oil-absorbable resins possess a far-reaching application prospect in the field of environmental treatment.