Functionalized three-dimensional graphene sponges for highly efficient crude and diesel oil adsorption

Abstract

Modified Hummer's method has been used in this study to synthesize graphene oxide (GO) solution that was utilized for the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) graphene sponges and their subsequent functionalization through a low-cost and facile vapor-based surface enhancement approach. The functionalized 3D-graphene sponge is an excellent absorbent, which can remove more than 3300 wt.% of crude oil (calculated with respect to the original sorbent mass). The functionalization of the obtained graphene sponges with trichloro (1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl)silane enhanced their wettability properties due to the super-hydrophobic nature of the resulting materials characterized by the contact angles in water greater than 150°. Furthermore, their elastic compression modulus (estimated by conducting a series of compression tests) was about 22.3 kPa. The equilibrium modeling of the oil removal process, which was performed by plotting Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms, confirmed the properties of the fabricated 3D graphene sponges as exceptional absorbents for crude and diesel oil, which could be attributed to the oleophilic nature of graphene. Moreover, the obtained 3D graphene sponges could be regenerated via heat treatment, which was conducted to release the adsorbed species. After five adsorption-desorption cycles, the sorption capacity of the produced 3D graphene sponges towards crude oil reached 95% of the initial value.

From 2D Graphene Nanosheets to 3D Graphene‐based Macrostructures

“…General surveys related to 3D graphene‐based materials are less commonly found in recent literature. We can mention the works from Bagoole et al ., Gorgolis et al . and Yuan et al ., all published in 2017.…”

Manufacturable Novel Nanogrease with Superb Physical Properties

“…In their first research paper that was published in 2007, the successful fabrication of a nanolubricant made of MWNTs and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) was reported [20][21][22][23]. Moreover, the improvement in the thermal conductivity of the fabricated grease using CNTs was reported.…”

“…Furthermore, we believe that there is a need to develop a new procedure for CNT grease manufacturing as extensive experimental works have indicated that some grease needs only 1-2 wt% of the tube to form stable and homogeneous grease. The study of hydrogen bonding can be extended in the future to other nanomaterials with functional groups (such as OH, COOH, F, and NH), graphene, GO, and 3DrGO [23,35,36].…”

Novel fabrication of hydrophobic/oleophilic human hair fiber for efficient oil/water separation through one-pot dip-coating synthesis route

“…Recently, there have been many reports showing the potential to prepare hydrophobic/oleophilic functional materials for oil–water separation 14 – 16 . For instance, Oscar et al 17 successfully fabricated the functionalized three-dimensional graphene sponges from graphene oxide solutions with different concentrations and trichloro(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl) silane. These advanced 3D graphene sponges showed excellent absorption efficiency of hexane solution.…”