Foamed materials for oil-water separation

Abstract Foamed materials are honeycomb-shaped structures bearing porous networks which exhibit considerable compressive strengths, and excellent efficiency for oil-water separation. The presence of spilled oils and solvents in wastewater intensifies with accumulation over the time later creating toxicity to the environment. The ever growing industrial demands precede contamination of water sources which later make it difficult in its eradication. The scientific community has spearheaded the research towards materials exhibiting high oil/-solvent absorption capacity, compression strength, and recycling ability for the effective removal of accumulated spilt oils and solvents from wastewater. Recently, foamed materials have gained wide focus for oil/-solvent recovery due to high absorption capacity rendered by 3D porous structure present in the foams. Carbon-based lightweight (density = 0.2–0.8 g/cm3) foam exhibiting compressive strength of 20 MPa, porosity of 93%, and hydrophobicity (water contact angle = 149o), has been reported for oil-water separation application. In this sense, present review provides an in-depth study on various foams capable of removing the spilt oil/solvents from wastewater and their mechanism, toxic effects on the environment, and the factors affecting oil/solvent absorption performance of the foams, for the effective oil/solvent recovery.