BACKGROUNDIn recent years, superhydrophobic and superoleophilic materials have attracted great interest and have been applied to the removal of oil contaminants from water. The combined effect of hierarchical coarse structure and low surface free energy is essential for the acquisition of superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity. In the present study, a facile, low-cost, fluorine-free and eco-friendly method is proposed for the development of superhydrophobic/superoleophilic corn straw fibers via conventional impregnation to realize the removal of oil from water. RESULTSThe simultaneous performances of superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity of the product were attributed to the covalent deposition of hollow spherical zinc oxide (ZnO) particles on the surface of fibers and subsequent hydrophobic modification using hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMOS). In addition, the superhydrophobic and superoleophilic performances of as-prepared corn straw remained in complex conditions of corrosive solution and long-time storage. The absorption capacity of superhydrophobic/superoleophilic corn straw for crude oil was 20.4 g g(-1), demonstrating high uptake capacity. CONCLUSIONThe superhydrophobic/superoleophilic corn straw fibers possessed excellent stability and enhanced absorption capacity. The as-prepared product could be widely used as an oil sorbent for oil/water separation. This study provided evidence for the better utilization of waste corn straw in the field of oil spills cleanup. (c) 2015 Society of Chemical Industry