Simple and fast fabrication of superhydrophobic metal wire mesh for efficiently gravity-driven oil/water separation

Superhydrophobic metal wire mesh (SMWM) has frequently been applied for the selective and efficient separation of oil/water mixture due to its porous structure and special wettability. However, current methods for the modification of metal wire mesh to be superhydrophobic suffered from problems with respect to complex experimental procedures or time-consuming process. In this study, a very simple, time-saving and single-step electrospray method was proposed to fabricate SMWM and the whole procedure required about only 2min. The morphology, surface composition and wettability of the SMWM were all evaluated, and the oil/water separation ability was further investigated. In addition, a commercial available sponge covered with SMWM was fabricated as an oil adsorbent for the purpose of oil recovery. This study demonstrated a convenient and fast method to modify the metal wire mesh to be superhydrophobic and such simple method might find practical applications in the large-scale removal of oils.