Methods for the efficient and affordable remediation of oil spills and chemical leaks are crucially needed in today’s environment. In this study, we have developed a simple, magnetic, porous material based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and steel wool (SW) that can fulfill these needs. The PDMS-SW presented here is superhydrophobic, superoleophilic, and capable of absorbing and separating oils and organic solvents from water. The material is mechanically and chemically stable, even in salty environments, and can be magnetically guided. It exhibits good selectivity, recyclability, and sorption capacity, and can quickly and continuously absorb and remove large amounts of oils and organic solutions from stationary and turbulent water. In addition, PDMS-SW’s inherently high porosity enables direct, gravity-driven oil-water separation with permeate flux as high as ~32,000 L/m²·h and separation efficiency over 99%. The solution immersion process used to prepare the material is easily scalable and requires only a single step. Thus, with its demonstrated combination of affordability, efficiency, and ease of use, PDMS-SW has the potential to meet the demands of large-area oil and chemical clean-ups.

在当今环境中，迫切需要有效，经济地补救漏油和化学泄漏的方法。在这项研究中，我们开发了一种基于聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）和钢丝绒（SW）的简单的磁性多孔材料，可以满足这些需求。此处介绍的PDMS-SW具有超疏水性，超亲油性，能够从水中吸收和分离油和有机溶剂。该材料即使在盐环境中也具有机械和化学稳定性，并且可以进行磁性引导。它具有良好的选择性，可回收性和吸附能力，并且可以快速，连续地吸收和除去静止和湍流水中的大量油和有机溶液。此外，PDMS-SW固有的高孔隙率可实现直接，² ·h，分离效率超过99％。用于制备材料的溶液浸没工艺易于扩展，并且仅需一个步骤。因此，PDMS-SW结合了价格可承受性，效率和易用性的证明，有潜力满足大面积采油和化学清洁的需求。