Novel Janus polyurethane sponges with asymmetric wettability enabling all-weather stable and efficient remediation of crude oil spills in harsh environments

Developing high-performance adsorbent materials featuring with all-weather service and high sorption efficiency to recover viscous crude oil spills in harsh environments is urgently required, yet it still remains an onerous challenge. Herein, a prominent Janus polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) & Ti 3 C 2 T X MXene @ polyurethane sponge (JPMPU) was exploited via a convenient anisotropic successive depositing technology. Thanks to controllable asymmetric decoration of Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene/PDMS and hydrophilic components on two antithetic sides, the resulting sponges exhibited a fascinating asymmetric superwettability, rendering JPMPUs superb interfacial floating stability and overturning-resistance property. Moreover, Janus sponges displayed outstanding photothermal and Joule-heating effects. Particularly, ultrahigh temperatures of 99.5 °C and 102.1 °C were acquired for JPMPU under the sunlight intensity of 1.5 kW m −2 and the applied voltage of 10 V, respectively. On the basis of these favorable features, JPMPUs exhibited a remarkable in situ sorption capability for high-viscous crude oil spills, which can absorb >16.1 and 19.0 times its own weight of crude oil driven by the solar heat and Joule heat, respectively. Consequently, together with robust recyclability , this 3D porous Janus thermal management sponge with superior self-heating integration functionality and robust self-floating stability shows great potential for fast all-weather crude oil recovery in harsh environments.