Removal of alkanes by novel grassy cabbage microbuds prepared by an electrochemical method

Herein, for the first time, novel superhydrophobic materials were synthesized by introducing hydrophobic branches of laurate on grassy cabbage like the architecture of copper oxide (gcCuO) on the surface of the stainless steel (SSM). The novel grassy cabbage-like 3D copper oxide surface on SSM was achieved by the controlled oxidation of the Cu electroplated SSM. The surface exhibited a high water repellency as the mesh was heavily functionalized with hydrophobic branches of lauric acid (LA); which provided an exceptionally high water contact angle of 166.1° after interacting with the gcCuO. The successful integration of the lauric acid and the gcCuO-SSM was confirmed and explained by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) revealed the uniform growth of a grassy cabbage like the architecture of copper oxide uniformly on the entire surface of the SSM. The separation efficiency of > 99% was found for the removal of hexane, heptane, nonane, and decane from the water. The surface of the LA-gcCuO-SSM completely rejected and expelled water from the oil/water emulsions. The LA-gcCuO-SSM can be a valuable addition to oil/water separation field due to its low cost, controlled morphology, and high efficiency.