Fabrication of superhydrophobic melamine sponges by thiol-ene click chemistry for oil removal

A superhydrophobic melamine sponge was fabricated by a facile method of photoinitiated thiol-ene click chemistry. The resultant sponge exhibited excellent water repellency with a water contact angle of 152.8° and could not only absorb various organic compounds with absorption capacities of 72–160 times its own weight, but also selectively and continuously remove oil from water. More importantly, the sponge still maintained a high absorption capacity after reused 16 times by sorption/squeezing. Additionally, the superhydrophobic sponge could also be used as a filter to separate oil/water mixtures successfully. These results suggest that the resultant superhydrophobic melamine sponge may provide great potential application for oil removal.