Superhydrophobic and Superoleophilic Miniature Device for the Collection of Oils from Water Surfaces

We develop a simple strategy for the collection of oil spill using a miniature device. The device was enfolded from a sheet of copper mesh with surface superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity. The copper mesh was fabricated through a simple thermal oxidation and surface modification process. The miniature device adsorbed various oils from the surface of oil–water mixture in its pores while repelling water completely. After the pores were full of oil, only oil could infiltrate into the device through the pores automatically and was finally concentrated into the device, showing its oil–water separating ability. Importantly, the concentrated oil in the device could be taken away by a dropper or pumped out, thus achieving the collection of oil for reuse. Additionally, after the concentrated oil was taken away, the device could be used in the next oil–water separating cycle without apparent decrease of its separation ability. Therefore, the findings in this work may offer a new strategy for the collection and reuse of various kinds of oils and other organic compounds from water surfaces.