Superhydrophobic MoS2-based multifunctional sponge for recovery and detection of spilled oil

Oil spills are a major threat to the marine ecosystem, requiring immediate solutions to remove spilled oil from oceanic environments. In this study, we report a superhydrophobic molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) coated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sponge and demonstrate its high proficiency in spilled oil recovery and oil spill detection based on oil-water separation ability. This novel oil sorbent is fabricated by a simple dip-coating to incorporate MoS2 flakes into PDMS sponge. The optimized MoS2-sponge displays a water contact angle of >152°, demonstrating excellent superhydrophobicity and high oil absorption (>97 wt%) for a variety of oils, including vegetable oil and fuel waste. Moreover, the material retains excellent oil absorption capability upon repetitive compression cycles. The versatility of this novel sorbent has been extended for the real-time spontaneous detection of oils by taking advantage of electrically conductive MoS2 layers. [Display omitted] •A novel, multifunctional oil sorbent sponge has been developed by incorporating 2D MoS2 flakes into porous PDMS sponge.•The MoS2/PDMS sponge presents tunable hydrophobicity varying with the concentration of incorporated 2D MoS2 flakes.•The MoS2-sponge exhibits excellent adsorption, separation, and recovery of oil from oil-spilled water as well as high repeatability upon repeated use.