Synthesis of a Superhydrophobic Polyvinyl Alcohol Sponge Using Water as the Only Solvent for Continuous Oil-Water Separation

Table 1

Comparison of the absorption capability of various absorbents.

Absorbent	Cost	Oil	Sorption capacity, g/g		Oil recovery method	Ref.
			Once	Total
Silane-modified nanocellulose	+	Toluene	∼170	1020	Distillation	[37]
Functional bacterial cellulose	++	Diesel	120	1200	Squeezing	[19]
Grapheme sponge	++	Dodecane	∼20	200	Burning	[38]
CNTs hybrids	++	Chloroform	∼95	570	Acetone extraction	[39]
Attapulgite coated PU sponge	—	Kerosene	—	3200	Continuous separation	[40]
Silylated PVA sponge	—	Toluene	—	7600	Continuous separation	Present work

Note: “once” means saturated absorption capacity; “total” is calculated through saturated absorption capacity multiplied by the number of cycles, or mass flux multiplied by the running time.