Dual-templating synthesis of superhydrophobic Fe3O4/PSt porous composites for highly efficient oil-water separation

[Display omitted] •Fe3O4/PSt porous composites were prepared by a dual-templating method using P(DMAEMA-b-St) as an emulsifier.•The experimental results showed that Fe3O4/PSt porous composites had excellent ability to treat a variety of oil pollutants.•The oil absorption capacity of the Fe3O4/PSt porous composite remained basically unchanged after 20 cycles.•Continuous oil–water separation experiment showed that Fe3O4/PSt had excellent continuous industrial application prospects. Fe3O4/PSt porous composites with low density, interconnected network structure and superhydrophobic were prepared successfully by a dual-templating method, including High Internal Phase Emulsion (HIPEs) template method and the introduction of organic template species. It was worth mentioning that a novel amphiphilic di-block copolymers P(DMAEMA-b-St) were prepared as emulsifier by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization method. At the same time, the effects of PS block length, emulsifier content, Fe3O4 content, DVB content and dispersed phase proportion on HIPEs droplet size and the corresponding polyHIPEs oil absorption were researched. The results showed that the oil adsorption capacity of 9.43 g/g toward toluene under optimal conditions. Subsequently, adsorption isotherm and adsorption kinetics were investigated. The results were shown that the adsorption of oil on adsorbent followed Freundlich model and pseudo-second-order (PSO) model. In addition, the adsorption experiments on a variety of oils demonstrated the wide applicability of Fe3O4/PSt porous composites. The cycling experiments proved that the Fe3O4/PSt porous composites had excellent cycling ability, were easy to recover and could be reused for multiple times. Finally, the adsorption column experiments showed that Fe3O4/PSt porous composites had powerful potential for industrial applications.