Superoleophilic and superhydrophobic biodegradable material with porous structures for oil absorption and oil–water separation

In this work, novel biodegradable poly(lactic acid) oil absorption and filtration materials with superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties were successfully fabricated. The as-prepared materials can separate oil from oil–water mixtures with high selectivity, high separation efficiency, stable performance, and easy recyclability, and are ideal candidates for applications in the cleanup of oil pollutants and the separation of oil and water. The used materials can be easily disposed because of their biodegradable essence and thus overcome the hard disposal and environmental contaminant limitations of traditional oil–water separation materials. This work provides a new design idea to prepare oil–water separation materials with consideration of both excellent separation ability and environmental friendliness, which shows attractive potential applications in industrial oily wastewater and oil spill cleanup.