Rose-petal-inspired fabrication of conductive superhydrophobic/superoleophilic carbon with high adhesion to water from orange peels for efficient oil adsorption from oil-water emulsion

As the nature gifts us numerous functional structures, the rose-petal-inspired conversion of orange peels to conductive superhydrophobic/superoleophilic carbon with high adhesion to water is implemented through a facile protocol without low surface energy material modification. The carbon possesses a hierarchical architecture with multitudinous surficial nanofolds and well-ordered graphene structure, generating ample roughness and water-harvesting grooves for superhydrophobicity/superoleophilicity and high adhesion to water, and constructing electron transfer pathway for splendid conductivity. Moreover, the physical property of high specific surface area of 1376 m2 g−1 with optimal porosity and favorable levels of oxygen and nitrogen doping are achieved. These advantages endow a superhydrophobic/superoleophilic surface for selective transfer of oil, multiscale porous structure for fast oil diffusion and abundant active sites for oil capture, bringing about an expressive adsorption capability of microsized oil droplets from oil-water emulsion with a high removal efficiency of 88.3% within 10 min and a maximum adsorption capacity of 2274.4 mg g−1.