Salt-Tolerant Superoleophobicity on Alginate Gel Surfaces Inspired by Seaweed (Saccharina japonica)

Bioinspired poly(vinyl alcohol)/zeolite composite coating with multifunctional integration

Underwater superoleophobic coatings have attracted significant research attention for their excellent oil-repellent properties. However, the major challenge for current coatings is poor performance under harsh conditions, leading to limitations in terms of practical application. In this paper, we present a novel bioinspired poly(vinyl alcohol)/zeolite composite coating that can be fabricated through a facile approach. This composite coating shows outstanding underwater superoleophobicity to various oils, as well as good wax-prevention and self-cleaning performance. Furthermore, the excellent mechanical and chemical stabilities of the coating make it suitable for practical applications in harsh environments. This bioinspired multifunctional composite coating has promising prospects in the petroleum industry.

A review of femtosecond laser-structured superhydrophobic or underwater superoleophobic porous surfaces/materials for efficient oil/water separation

Oil/water separation (OWS) technology has become an increasingly crucial tool to protect the environment and reduce the economic losses caused by the discharge of oily wastewater and oil spills. Recently, porous materials with superwettability have been applied in effective OWS and have achieved tremendous success. Herein, we review recent advancements of OWS utilizing femtosecond (fs) laser-structured superhydrophobic or underwater superoleophobic porous materials. We will review the enabling materials processing and treatment methods, their surface wettability, the separating methods and processes, and the separation mechanisms. Inspired by lotus leaves and fish scales, superhydrophobic and underwater superoleophobic properties are artificially achieved on substrate surfaces by fs laser processing. By using fs laser-structured superwetting porous materials, various oil/water mixtures (OWMs) are successfully separated through different separation methods. Presently, the research of fs laser-based OWS is still in its infancy. We will also discuss the current challenges and future prospects in this emerging field. It is expected that the advanced features of fs laser microfabrication will lead to exciting applications for OWS.

Ultrastable Underwater Anti-Oil Fouling Coatings from Spray Assemblies of Polyelectrolyte Grafted Silica Nanochains

Surfaces that have superhydrophilic characteristics are known to exhibit extreme oil repellency under water, which is attractive for applications including anti-fogging, water-oil separations, and self-cleaning. However, superhydrophilic surfaces can also be easily fouled and lose their extreme oil repellency, which limits their usage in practical applications. In this work, we create an anti-oil fouling coating by spray coating poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-grafted SiO₂ nanochains (approximately 45 nm wide and 300 nm long) onto solid surfaces, forming a nanoporous film exhibiting superhydrophilicity (water contact angle in air ≈ 0°) and underwater superoleophobicity (dichloroethane contact angle ≥ 165°). The polymer-grafted nanochain assemblies exhibit extremely low contact angle hysteresis (<1°) and small adhesion hysteresis (-0.05 mN m^-1), and thus, oil can readily roll off from the surface when the coating is immersed in water. Compared to other superhydrophilic surfaces, we show that both the unique structure of spray-assembled nanochains and the hygroscopic nature of PAA are essential to enable ultrastable anti-oil fouling. Even after the PAA-grafted nanochain coating is purposely fouled by oil, oil can be readily and completely expelled and lifted-off from the coating within 10 s when placed under water. Further, we show that our coating retains underwater superoleophobicity even after being subjected to shearing under water for more than 168 h. Our approach offers a simple yet versatile method to create an ultrastable superhydrophilic and anti-oil fouling coating via a scalable manufacturing method.

Seawater-Induced Healable Underwater Superoleophobic Antifouling Coatings

Creating an artificial surface, mimicking a live fish scale that repels oil underwater and with self-healing properties, would be significant for the development of nontoxic marine antifouling coatings. Here, we report a seawater-induced strategy to create in situ an underwater superoleophobic surface, starting from the coatings of a self-polishing polymer and seawater-responsive polymer-grafted SiO₂ nanoparticles. The coatings' surfaces were able to renew in artificial seawater through the hydrolysis of the superficial self-polishing polymer and its subsequent dissolution. Particularly, the grafted poly(triisopropylsilyl acrylate- co-3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane) chains could transform into hydrophilic ones via seawater-induced hydrolysis, which additionally strengthened the oil-repellency (zero oil adhesive force) and endowed the surface with excellent antiprotein adsorption characteristics. Because the hydrolysis was limited to the superficial layer of the coatings, it could avoid the water-swelling that instead occurs with conventional underwater superoleophobic coatings, with significant benefits to its durability. We believe that the seawater-induced renewal of underwater superoleophobic surfaces will be useful in extreme marine environments.

Recent advances of bioinspired functional materials with specific wettability: from nature and beyond nature

Through 3.7 billion years of evolution and natural selection, plants and animals in nature have ingeniously fulfilled a broad range of fascinating functions to achieve optimized performance in responding and adapting to changes in the process of interacting with complex natural environments. It is clear that the hierarchically organized micro/nanostructures of the surfaces of living organisms decisively manage fascinating and amazing functions, regardless of the chemical components of their building blocks. This conclusion now allows us to elucidate the underlying mechanisms whereby these hierarchical structures have a great impact on the properties of the bulk material. In this review, we mainly focus on advances over the last three years in bioinspired multiscale functional materials with specific wettability. Starting from selected naturally occurring surfaces, manmade bioinspired surfaces with specific wettability are introduced, with an emphasis on the cooperation between structural characteristics and macroscopic properties, including lotus leaf-inspired superhydrophobic surfaces, fish scale-inspired superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic surfaces, springtail-inspired superoleophobic surfaces, and Nepenthes (pitcher plant)-inspired slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPSs), as well as other multifunctional surfaces that combine specific wettability with mechanical properties, optical properties and the unidirectional transport of liquid droplets. Afterwards, various top-down and bottom-up fabrication techniques are presented, as well as emerging cutting-edge applications. Finally, our personal perspectives and conclusions with regard to the transfer of micro- and nanostructures to engineered materials are provided.

Designing robust underwater superoleophobic microstructures on copper substrates

Recently, surfaces with a robust underwater superoleophobicity have attracted much attention. Although it is recognized that stable microstructures are significant for such surfaces, a clear picture of how microstructural features such as morphology, size, etc. influence their own stability and related wettability is still missing. Herein, three low adhesive underwater superoleophobic copper surfaces with different microstructures (hemispheric, pinecone-like, and honeycomb) were first prepared, and then the stability of these microstructures was examined by a series of physical and chemical damage experiments (sand grain abrasion, corrosion in acid/base solutions, etc.). The results indicate that the hemispheric microstructure is more stable than the other two microstructures and the corresponding surface has a robust underwater superoleophobicity. Theoretical simulation analysis further confirms the experimental results and reveals that different stabilities are ascribed to different stress distributions on these microstructures under an external force due to distinct microstructure shapes. Furthermore, based on the same design strategy, a robust underwater superoleophobic oil/water separation copper mesh film was also prepared. This work provides an insight into the effect of microstructural features on the stability and related underwater oil-repellent properties of superoleophobic copper surfaces, and could provide us with some fresh design ideas for robust superwetting surfaces.

Construction of hydrophobic alginate-based foams induced by zirconium ions for oil and organic solvent cleanup

Hydrophobic modification of sodium alginate (SA) foams via a simple freeze-drying and post cross-linking induced by zirconium (Zr) ions was developed. All results demonstrated that Zr ions not only constructed surface microstructure but also lowered surface energy of foams, leading to the hydrophobic character. Hydrophobic and oleophilic foams showed excellent adsorption capacities for different oils and organic solvents (11.2-25.9 g/g). Furthermore, SA solution can be also coated on porous substrates, such as melamine sponges (MS) and Nylon strainers (NS), to give hydrophobic modification by Zr ion crosslinking. These excellent performances made them a promising for oil adsorption and cleanup.

Bio-Inspired Underwater Super Oil-Repellent Coatings for Anti-Oil Pollution

Underwater superoleophobic surfaces have attracted great attention due to their broad applications such as anti-oil adhesion, oil capture and transportation, and oil/water separation. However, it is often fairly complex and time-consuming, involved in the construction of micro/nanostructures and the regulation of chemical compositions; there is an urgent need to develop new strategies to conquer these problems. Inspired by the strong anchoring capability and easy accessibility of plant polyphenols, we can readily and rapidly fabricate tannic acid (TA) coated copper surfaces with the excellent underwater super oil-repellent property. To achieve the optimal condition for TA modification, the influence of immersion time, TA concentration, and pH value on underwater-oil wettability and adhesion has been systematically explored. Furthermore, the underwater super oil-repellent feature can be widely achieved for different oils and on various metal sheets, suggesting the potential applications for plenty of fields such as anti-oil pollution.

In Situ Formation of Slippery-Liquid-Infused Nanofibrous Surface for a Transparent Antifouling Endoscope Lens

Slippery-liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) are state-of-the-art materials owing to their excellent properties derived from their fluidity (e.g., dynamic omniphobicity and self-healing function). Although SLIPS have been multifunctionalized and developed for various applications, the fabrication process is not well advanced because it is time-consuming and requires multiple steps. Here, a versatile method is reported for the instant formation of slippery surfaces in situ. A lubricated fiber-filled porous sheet was designed, and a coating was formed simply by sticking a surface to the sheet. This sheet can be used as a "disposable instant coating kit" and be made available for instant and repeated coating of SLIPS. The technique is applied to a transparent antifouling endoscope lens as a proof-of-concept. This work improves the fabrication process of SLIPS and contributes to the practical use of SLIPS.

Seeded Mineralization Leads to Hierarchical CaCO3 Thin Coatings on Fibers for Oil/Water Separation Applications

Like their biogenic counterparts, synthetic minerals with hierarchical architectures should exhibit multiple structural functions, which nicely bridge the boundaries between engineering and functional materials. Nevertheless, design of bioinspired mineralization approaches to thin coatings with distinct micro/nanotextures remains challenging in the realm of materials chemistry. Herein, a general morphosynthetic method based on seeded mineralization was extended to achieve prismatic-type thin CaCO₃ coatings on fibrous substrates for oil/water separation applications. Distinct micro/nanotextures of the overlayers could be obtained in mineralization processes in the presence of different soluble (bio)macromolecules. These hierarchical thin coatings therefore exhibit multiple structural functions including underwater superoleophobicity, ultralow adhesion force of oil in water, and comparable stiffness/strength to the prismatic-type biominerals found in mollusk shells. Moreover, this controllable approach could proceed on fibrous substrates to obtain robust thin coatings, so that a modified nylon mesh could be employed for oil/water separation driven by gravity. Our bioinspired approach based on seeded mineralization opens the door for the deposition of hierarchical mineralized thin coatings exhibiting multiple structural functions on planar and fibrous substrates. This bottom-up strategy could be readily extended for the syntheses of advanced thin coatings with a broad spectrum of engineering and functional constituents.

Underwater Mechanically Robust Oil-Repellent Materials: Combining Conflicting Properties Using a Heterostructure

The development of underwater mechanically robust oil-repellent materials is important due to the high demand for these materials with the increase in underwater activities. Based on the previous study, a new strategy is demonstrated to prepare underwater mechanically robust oil-repellent materials by combining conflicting properties using a heterostructure, which has a layered hydrophobic interior structure with a columnar hierarchical micro/nanostructure on the surface and a hydrophilic outer structure. The surface hydrophilic layer imparts underwater superoleophobicity and low oil adhesion to the material, which has oil contact angle of larger than 150° and adhesion of lower than 2.8 µN. The stability of the mechanical properties stemming from the interior hydrophobic-layered structure enables the material to withstand high weight loads underwater. The tensile stress and the hardness of such a heterostructure film after 1 month immersion in seawater and pH solution are in the range from 83.92 ± 8.22 to 86.73 ± 7.8 MPa and from 83.88 ± 6.8 to 86.82 ± 5.64 MPa, respectively, which are superior to any underwater oil-repellent material currently reported.

Cupric Phosphate Nanosheets-Wrapped Inorganic Membranes with Superhydrophilic and Outstanding Anticrude Oil-Fouling Property for Oil/Water Separation

Developing an effective and sustainable solution for cleaning up or separating oily water is highly desired. In this work, we report a completely inorganic mesh membrane made up of cupric phosphate (Cu₃(PO₄)₂) in a special intersected nanosheets-constructed structure. Combing the hierarchical structure with strong hydration ability of Cu₃(PO₄)₂, the nanosheets-wrapped membrane exhibits a superior superhydrophilic and underwater anti-oil-fouling and antibio-fouling property for efficient oil/water separation to various viscous oils such as heavy diesel oil, light crude oil, and even heavy crude oil with underwater oil contact angles (CAs) all above 158° and nearly zero underwater oil adhesive force even when a large preload force of up to 400 μN was applied on the oil droplet. Simultaneously, the membrane exhibits a high chemical and thermal stability and outstanding salt tolerance. Continuous separation operated on a cross-flow filtration apparatus demonstrates a large separation capacity and long-term stability of the membrane during treating a 2000 L crude oil/water mixture with constantly stable permeating flux of ∼4000 L/m² h and oil content in the filtrate below 2 ppm. The excellent anti-oil-fouling property, high separation capacity, and easily scaled-up preparation process of the membrane show great potential for practical application in treating oily wastewater.

A general and facile chemical avenue for the controlled and extreme regulation of water wettability in air and oil wettability under water

The controlled modulation of both oil (under water) and water (in air) wettability is an emerging approach to develop several functional materials for various prospective applications including oil/water separation, anti-corrosive coatings, underwater robotics, protein crystallization, drug delivery, open microfluidics, water harvesting etc. Here, we report a 'reactive' and covalently cross-linked coating through a facile and robust Michael addition reaction, which is suitable for the controlled and extreme regulation of both water and oil wettability in air and under water respectively. Along with extremes (super-philicity and super-phobicity) of water (in air) and oil (under water) wettability, this single multilayer construction was also able to display special liquid wettability (i.e.; extremely liquid repellent-but with controlled adhesive properties) both in air and under water, after strategic post chemical modifications, again through 1,4-conjugate addition reaction. The super-wetting properties in the materials were able to withstand various physical and chemical insults including adhesive tape test, sand drop test, and exposure to extremes of pH, salt, and surfactant contaminated aqueous media. Moreover, this approach also allowed the decoration of various flexible and rigid substrates (i.e.; wood, Al-foil, synthetic fabric etc.) with various bio-inspired wettability properties including (1) non-adhesive superhydrophobicity (lotus leaf), (2) adhesive superhydrophobicity (rose petal), (3) underwater superoleophobicity (fish scale) etc. This single polymeric coating-which is capable of displaying several bio-inspired interfaces both in air and under water, even after harsh physical/chemical insults-would be useful in various prospective and relevant applications for practical scenarios.

Synthesis of 'reactive' and covalent polymeric multilayer coatings with durable superoleophobic and superoleophilic properties under water

Bioinspired underwater super-oil-wettability (superoleophilic/superoleophobic) properties are emerging as a potential avenue for developing smart materials for addressing issues related to healthcare, environment, energy, etc. However, the inherent poor durability of the materials that are mostly developed using polymeric hydrogel, metal oxide coatings and electrostatic multilayers often challenges the application of these wettability properties in practical scenarios. Here, 'amine-reactive' polymeric multilayers of nano-complex were developed to fabricate 'internal' underwater superoleophobic/superoleophilic coatings with impeccable physical/chemical durability. This allows the super-wetting properties to exist beyond the surface of the material and remain intact even after severe physical damage including erosion of the material and continuous exposure to an artificial-marine environment for more than 80 days. Moreover, this current design allowed for independent revalidation of some key hypotheses with direct experimental demonstrations, and provided a basis to develop highly durable super-oil-wettability properties under water. It is believed that this contemporary study will make a worthwhile contribution on developing multifunctional materials for widespread practical applications by exploiting these super-oil-wetting properties.

A robust salt-tolerant superoleophobic alginate/graphene oxide aerogel for efficient oil/water separation in marine environments

Marine pollution caused by frequent oil spill accidents has brought about tremendous damages to marine ecological environment. Therefore, the facile large-scale preparation of three-dimensional (3D) porous functional materials with special wettability is in urgent demand. In this study, we report a low-cost and salt-tolerant superoleophobic aerogel for efficient oil/seawater separation. The aerogel is prepared through incorporating graphene oxide (GO) into alginate (ALG) matrix by using a facile combined freeze-drying and ionic cross-linking method. The 3D structure interconnected by ALG and GO ensures the high mechanical strength and good flexibility of the developed aerogel. The rough microstructure combined with the hydrophilicity of the aerogel ensures its excellent underwater superoleophobic and antifouling properties. High-content polysaccharides contained in the aerogel guarantees its excellent salt-tolerant property. More impressively, the developed aerogel can retain its underwater superoleophobicity even after 30 days of immersion in seawater, indicating its good stability in marine environments. Furthermore, the aerogel could separate various oil/water mixtures with high separation efficiency (>99%) and good reusability (at least 40 cycles). The facile fabrication process combined with the excellent separation performance makes it promising for practical applications in marine environments.

Mechano-regulated surface for manipulating liquid droplets

The effective transfer of tiny liquid droplets is vital for a number of processes such as chemical and biological microassays. Inspired by the tarsi of meniscus-climbing insects, which can climb menisci by deforming the water/air interface, we developed a mechano-regulated surface consisting of a background mesh and a movable microfibre array with contrastive wettability. The adhesion of this mechano-regulated surface to liquid droplets can be reversibly switched through mechanical reconfiguration of the microfibre array. The adhesive force can be tuned by varying the number and surface chemistry of the microfibres. The in situ adhesion of the mechano-regulated surface can be used to manoeuvre micro-/nanolitre liquid droplets in a nearly loss-free manner. The mechano-regulated surface can be scaled up to handle multiple droplets in parallel. Our approach offers a miniaturized mechano-device with switchable adhesion for handling micro-/nanolitre droplets, either in air or in a fluid that is immiscible with the droplets.

Droplet manipulation is an essential task for designing microfluidic platforms such as lab-on-chip devices. Here Tang et al. develop a non-wettable mesh with reversible liquid adhesion controlled by mechanically inserting wettable pillars which allows for effective and rapid droplet manoeuvring.

Recyclable magnetic carboxymethyl chitosan/calcium alginate - cellulase bioconjugates for corn stalk hydrolysis

The use of cellulase hydrolysis of straw to produce fermentable sugars has many application prospects. However, cellulase is very expensive, which hampers its industrial applications. To improve cellulase's catalytic activity and reduce the enzyme cost, magnetite carboxymethyl chitosan/calcium alginate - cellulase bioconjugate (MCCCB) was synthesized via an improved hydrothermal method, molecular self-assembly technology, physical absorption, embedding and covalent bonding. Its loading capacity was 3.95mg/mL, and the catalytic activity increased to 267.18%. We decreased the release rate, improved the reusability, and enhanced the stability of MCCCB. Corn stalk hydrolysis also greatly improved, and the overall yield of fermentable sugars increased by 698.26%. All of these results indicate that MCCCB could significantly improve the efficiency of cellulase, greatly reduce the cost of enzyme, and effectively promote the production of fermentable sugars.

Interfacial Engineering of Hierarchically Porous NiTi/Hydrogels Nanocomposites with Exceptional Antibiofouling Surfaces

Seamlessly bridging the hard and the soft, a strategy to fabricate hierarchically porous NiTi/hydrogels nanocomposites is reported. The nanocomposite surface can hold high-content water while keeping its hierarchical nanoscale topography, thus showing exceptional antibiofouling performance. This strategy will lead to antibiofouling alloy (e.g., NiTi)/hydrogel nanocomposites for improved stents and other blood-contacting implants and medical devices.

Superoleophobic surfaces

This review systematically summarizes the recent developments of superoleophobic surfaces, focusing on their design, fabrication, characteristics, functions, and important applications.

Bio-Inspired Design and Fabrication of Micro/Nano-Brush Dual Structural Surfaces for Switchable Oil Adhesion and Antifouling

The underwater superoleophobic surfaces play a significant role in anti-oil contamination, marine antifouling, etc. Inspired by the Gecko's feet and its self-cleaning property, a hierarchical structure composed of poly (acrylic acid) gel micro-brushes is designed by the liquid-infused method. This surface exhibits underwater superoleophobicity with very low oil adhesion. It is then modified with stimuli-responsive polymer nano-brushes via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization from the embedded initiator. The micro/nano-brush dual structural surfaces can switch the underwater oil adhesion between low and high while keeping the superoleophobicity. The antifouling properties against algae attachment under different mediums are also investigated to show a strong link between oleophobicity and antibiofouling property. The model surface will be very useful in directing the design of marine self-cleaning coatings to both living and non-living species.

Designing Bioinspired Anti-Biofouling Surfaces based on a Superwettability Strategy

Anti-biofouling surfaces are of high importance owing to their crucial roles in biosensors, biomedical devices, food processing, the marine industry, etc. However, traditional anti-biofouling surfaces based on either the release of biocidal compounds or surface chemical/physical design cannot satisfy the practical demands when meeting real-world complex conditions. The outstanding performances of natural anti-biofouling surfaces motivate the development of new bioinspired anti-biofouling surfaces. Herein, a novel strategy is proposed for rationally designing bioinspired anti-biofouling surfaces based on superwettability. By utilizing the trapped air cushions or liquid layers, Lotus leaf inspired superhydrophobic surfaces, fish scales inspired underwater superoleophobic surfaces, and Nepenthes pitcher plants inspired omniphobic slippery surfaces have been successfully designed as anti-biofouling surfaces to effectively resist proteins, bacteria, cells, and marine organisms. It is believed that these novel superwettability-based anti-biofouling surfaces will bring a new era to both biomedical technology and the marine industry, and will greatly benefit human health and daily life in the near future.

Regulating Underwater Superoleophobicity to Superoleophilicity on Hierarchical Structured Copper Substrates through Assembling n-Alkanoic Acids

In this paper, we report a simple method based on assembling n-alkanoic acids on hierarchical structured copper toward preparing surfaces with tunable oil wetting performance in water. Surface wettability from superoleophobicity to superoleophilicity in water can be regulated through tuning the chain length of n-alkanoic acids. Importantly, even in strongly acid and basic water, such phenomena can still be observed. The cooperation between the hierarchical structures and the surface chemical composition variation is responsible for the controllability. Meanwhile, the tunable ability is universal and the controllability is suitable for various oils including silicon oil, n-hexane, and chloroform. Moreover, the method was also used on copper mesh substrates, and we reported the related application of selective oil/water separation. This paper provides a flexible strategy toward preparing surfaces with tunable oil wetting performances, which can also be suitable for other materials, and offers some fresh ideas in manipulating underwater oil wetting performances on surfaces.

Robust Underwater Oil-Repellent Material Inspired by Columnar Nacre

Inspired by natural columnar nacre, artificial montmorillonite/hydroxyethyl cellulose columnar nacre-like materials with a site-specific layered structure in the interior and a hierarchical columnar structure on the surface are prepared. The materials exhibit improved tensile strength, good chemical stability in seawater, superior resistance to sand-grain impingement, and robust underwater low-adhesive superoleophobicity.

A Robust Polyionized Hydrogel with an Unprecedented Underwater Anti-Crude-Oil-Adhesion Property

A polyionized hydrogel polymer (sodium polyacrylate-grafted poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PAAS-g-PVDF)) is fabricated via an alkaline-induced phase-inversion process. PAAS-g-PVDF coatings exhibit unprecedented anti-adhesion and self-cleaning properties to crude oils under an aqueous environment. A PAAS-g-PVDF-coated copper mesh can effectively separate a crude oil/water mixture with extremely high flux and high oil rejection driven by gravity, and is oil-fouling-free for long-term use.

Self-Healing Underwater Superoleophobic and Antibiofouling Coatings Based on the Assembly of Hierarchical Microgel Spheres

Marine biofouling has been plaguing people for thousands of years. While various strategies have been developed for antifouling (including superoleophobic) coatings, none of these exhibits self-healing properties because the bestowal of a zoetic self-repairing function to lifeless artificial water/solid interfacial materials is usually confronted with tremendous challenges. Here, we present a self-repairing underwater superoleophobic and antibiofouling coating through the self-assembly of hydrophilic polymeric chain modified hierarchical microgel spheres. The obtained surface material not only has excellent underwater superoleophobicity but also has very good subaqueous antibiofouling properties. More importantly, this surface material can recover the oil- and biofouling-resistant properties once its surface is mechanically damaged, similar to the skins of some marine organisms such as sharks or whales. This approach is feasible and easily mass-produced and could open a pathway and possibility for the fabrication of other self-healing functional water/solid interfacial materials.

A robust salt-tolerant superoleophobic aerogel inspired by seaweed for efficient oil–water separation in marine environments

A robust salt-tolerant superoleophobic aerogel was fabricated by a simple combined freeze-drying and ionic cross-linking method for oil–seawater separation.

Polymer porous interfaces with controllable oil adhesion underwater

Porous montmorillonite (MMT)/poly acrylic acid (PAA) composite surfaces with different oil adhesions were achieved by controlling the MMT arrangement in the pore wall.