Hierarchical porous carbon monoliths with superior wettability have attracted more and more attention. These materials
used in oil spill area have facilitated a phase change of oil from liquid to semisolid, leading to the removal of oil from
water just by pulling out the porous sorbent [7,11]. For instance, hierarchical porous carbon synthesized via hydrothermal
process followed by a nanocasting pathway has been applied to the collection of oil from water [12]. In our lab, we
have developed a biomimetic 3D ordered multimodal porous carbon by integrating colloidal crystal, block copolymer and
phenolic resin, and has successfully used it as a sorbent for the removal of paraffin oil from water [13]. However, the
costly and complicated fabrication procedures, harsh practical conditions, low stability and flexibility dramatically hamper
the mass production of carbon monoliths for practical applications. Therefore, it is an urgent need to explore a
low-cost and time-saving pathway for the preparation of hierarchical porous carbon monoliths to overcome the aforementioned limitations.