Super-hydrophobic and super-lipophilic functionalized graphene oxide/polyurethane sponge applied for oil/water separation

Nowadays, oil spills have led to a serious environmental crisis of the world. To deal with this problem, inspired from super-hydrophobic lotus leaf, this study fabricated super-hydrophobic and super-lipophilic functionalized graphene oxide/polyurethane （FGP） sponge by a simple and inexpensive dip coating method. The resulting FGP sponge was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and water contact angle. The results expressed that FGP sponge exhibited a similar surface structure to that of a lotus leaf, and possessed the super-hydrophobic characteristic with the water contact angle （WAC） of 152°± 1 °. The absorption capacity and reusability were also investigated. It can be seen that, the FGP sponge can remove a wide range of oils and organic solvents from water with good absorption capacities （up to 35 times of its own mass）. Significantly, after 10 cycles the absorption capacity of the oils and organic solvents was higher than 90°; for the reused FGP sponge, demonstrating the good reusability of the FGP sponge. Therefore, this study probably provided a simole way to remove the pollutions ofoil spills and toxic organism from water.

Syntheses and Co-Fluorescence of Complexes of Eu (III)/Gd (III) with Thienyltrifluoroacetonate, Terephthalic Acid and Phenanthroline

A series of complexes of europium (III)/gadolinium (III) with 2-thienyltrifluoroacetonate (HTTA), terephthalic acid (TPA) and phenanthroline (Phen) were synthesized by coprecipitation. The resulting complexes including Eu2(TPA)(TTA)4Phen2, Eu1.4Gd0.6(TPA)(TTA)4Phen2, Eu1.0Gd1.0(TPA)(TTA)4Phen2 and Eu0.8Gd1.2(TPA)(TTA)4Phen2 were characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy and thermal stability analysis. The results of analysis indicate that the complexes obtained have similar binuclear structure with each other. The thermal stability analysis indicates that the complexes Eu2(TPA)(TTA)4Phen2and Eu1.0Gd1.0(TPA)(TTA)4Phen2 possess good thermal stability, which melt at ~241°C and decompose at ~370°C - 430°C corresponding to the formation of the complexes. The fluorescence spectra of Eu2(1-x)Gd2x(TPA)(TTA)4Phen2 (x = 0 - 1) complex powders and their doped silica gels were studied. The co-fluorescence effect of Gd3+ ions in complex powders is different from that of their doped silica gels. The optimum concentration of Gd3+ for complex powders and their doped silica gels is 0.5 and 0.3 (molar fraction), respectively. The co-fluorescence distinction of Gd3+ ions for complex powders and their doped silica gels is preferably interpreted from the proposed binuclear structure together with monomolecular compositions of the complexes for the first time. Both intermolecular energy transfer and intra molecular energy transfer in cross binuclear monomolecular EuGd(TPA)(TTA)4Phen2 are thought to be responsible for the co-fluorescence effect of the complex powders;yet only the latter is thought to be responsible for the co-fluorescence effect in silica gels, for the complex molecules in this case are isolated from each other.