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.