Colloid‐Mediated Fabrication of a 3D Pollen Sponge for Oil Remediation Applications

Abstract There is tremendous interest in developing 3D scaffolds from natural materials for a wide range of healthcare, energy, photonic, and environmental science applications. To date, most natural materials that are used to make 3D scaffolds consist of fibril structures; however, it would be advantageous to explore the development of scaffolds from natural materials with distinct supramolecular structures. Herein, the fabrication of a mechanically responsive pollen sponge that exhibits tunable 3D scaffold properties and is useful for oil remediation applications is reported. By using pollen‐based microgel particles as colloidal building blocks, the sponge fabrication process is optimized by tuning the processing conditions during freeze‐drying and thermal annealing steps. Stearic acid functionalization transforms the pollen sponge into a hydrophobic scaffold that can readily and repeatedly absorb oil and other organic solvents from contaminated water sources, with similar performance levels to commercial, synthetic polymer‐based absorbents and an improved environmental footprint.