We fabricate a cellulose sponge with stable superoleophobicity (θ_oil > 150°) under water and superhydrophilic wettability (θ_water ≈ 0°) under oil without any further chemical modification for oil–water emulsion separation. The cellulose sponge shows superoleophobicity to various oils under water and possesses stable superoleophobicity in corrosive liquids like strong acid, alkali and salt solution. The sponge is made from the dissolution and regeneration of cellulose powder which is green, low cost, simple and easy to scale up. The natural hydrophilicity of the cellulose ensures its excellent under-water superoleophobicity and antifouling properties. The double layer construction of different pore sizes, which contains a top-layer with a pore size lower than 1 μm and a sub-layer with a pore size larger than 3 μm, ensures that the oil phase is resisted and the water phase easily and quickly permeates the sponge. Our cellulose sponge can separate oil–water mixtures, with >99.94% separation efficiency, solely using gravity and has excellent antifouling properties.

This review highlights advancements in the thermal management of graphene-based polymer composites, emphasizing material selection, preparation, modification, structural design, and innovative applications.

Oil spills not only result in extensive economic losses but also damage marine ecological environments. A series of materials with special wettability are investigated for the separation of oil–water mixtures. However, few studies have investigated the adsorption behaviors of sponges to crude oil (high viscosity). To solve the restrictions of high viscosity oil absorption, low oil absorption rate and oil–water emulsion separation of oil absorption materials, a superhydrophobic and superoleophilic polyurethane (PU) sponge was synthesized via an environmentally friendly surface grafting of a polymer molecular brush. This grafted sponge exhibited high oil absorption rate because of the expansion in oil and collapse in water of the polymer molecular brushes. The grafted PU sponge also possessed high absorption capacity (23 times of the self weight), high oil retention (93%), high mechanical strength and good recyclability (more than 400 times). We anticipate that the grafted sponge will have numerous applications and will show outstanding performance on a larger scale. A quick clean-up of marine spilled oil/organic solvents and the separation/recycling of an oil–water mixture/emulsion can also be achieved.