Protonated Melamine Sponge for Effective Oil/Water Separation

In this study, we fabricated a superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic protonated melamine sponge for effective separation of water-rich immiscible oil/water mixtures with extremely high separation efficiency. This protonated melamine sponge exhibited excellent antifouling properties and could be used to separate oil/water mixtures continuously for up to 12 h without any increase in the oil content in filtrate. Moreover, our compressed protonated melamine sponge could separate both surfactant-free and -stabilized oil-in-water emulsions with high separation efficiencies. The high performance of this protonated melamine sponge and its efficient, energy- and cost-effective preparation suggest that it has great potential for use in practical applications.