A sorbent for oil spill cleanup was prepared through a novel strategy by treating polyurethane sponges
with silica sol and gasoline successively. The oil sorption capacity, oil/water selectivity, reusability and
sorption mechanism of prepared sorbent were studied. The results showed that the prepared sorbent
exhibited high sorption capacity and excellent oil/water selectivity. 1 g of the prepared sorbent could
adsorb more than 100 g of motor oil, while it only picks up less than 0.1 g of water from an oil–water
interface under both static and dynamic conditions. More than 70% of the sorption capacity remained
after 15 successive sorption–squeezing cycles, which suggests an extraordinary high reusability. The prepared
sorbent is a better alternative of the commercial polypropylene sorbent which are being used
nowadays