Preparation and oil–water separation of 3D kapok fiber‐reduced graphene oxide aerogel

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Oil spills from oil tankers and ships or industrial accidents have serious impacts on the ecological environment.There is an urgent need for finding effective ways to resolve these problems. The use of low-cost and efficient adsorbents is considered to be one of the most effective ways. RESULTS: In this study, an ultra-light 3D kapok fiber-reduced graphene oxide (TKF-rGO) aerogel was prepared by a simple and green one-step hydrothermal method. The kapok fiber used as skeleton was embedded in a graphene network to successfully form a 3D aerogel structure. The as-prepared TKF-rGO aerogel featured low density, excellent mechanical strength, high thermal stability, and high hydrophobic lipophilicity. Furthermore, continuous oil-water separation could be achieved by the aerogel when connected to a vacuum system. The adsorption capacity of TKF-rGO aerogel for various common oil products and organic solvents was 1.5-fold greater than that of pure rGO aerogel and six-fold greater than that of polypropylene melt spray, respectively. In addition, the initial adsorption capacity of the as-prepared TKF-rGO aerogel was maintained at 94% after eight cycles.CONCLUSION: The TKF-rGO aerogel could be synthesized by a low-cost and green method, which was suitable for commercial production, and showed competitive adsorption capacities for oil removal. Thus, the TKF-rGO aerogel is expected to be employed as a promising adsorbent in the removal of oil spill or hazardous organic solvents from water.

High-Performance Three-Dimensional Aerogel Based on Hydrothermal Pomelo Peel and Reduced Graphene Oxide as an Efficient Adsorbent for Water/Oil Separation

“…As previously mentioned, the capillary force generated could facilitate the adhering and staying of high-density organic liquids strongly in the mesoporous, thus exhibiting a preferable adsorption efficiency. This result was roughly consistent with the conclusions of other works. , …”

“…This result was roughly consistent with the conclusions of other works. 37,38 To evaluate the regeneration and reusability of the aerogel, the four kinds of various oils were chosen to explore the recycling performance. The adsorption capacity of the 40%-HPP-RGO after eight cycles of testing for the pump oil, soybean oil, and engine oil as well as the diesel oil maintained 95.8, 96.6, 95.4, and 96.2%, respectively (Figure 9).…”

Graphene Aerogels with Ultrahigh Pore Volume for Organic Dye Adsorption and High-Energy Lithium Batteries

“…As compared to the rGO aerogel, the spongy GO exhibits three-stage weight loss corresponding to adsorbed volatile species, functional group degradation, and carbon oxidation. About 22 wt % of loss is observed at the initial stage below 200 °C related to the adsorbed moisture and other labile functionalities followed by an abrupt decomposition of the epoxy-functional group of GO at 220 °C. , The distinctive carbon oxidation is observed at 510 °C. As seen from the figure, the rGO materials show gradual weight loss corresponding to the removal of weakly bound adsorbents and functional group degradation, which extends up to 500 °C followed by the carbon charring .…”

Preparation of Carbonized Kapok Fiber/Reduced Graphene Oxide Aerogel for Oil‐Water Separation

“…Huang et al used a one-step hydrothermal method to prepare an ultra-light 3D kapok fiber-reduced GO aerogel with low density, excellent mechanical strength, high thermal stability, high hydrophobic lipophilicity, and high oil absorption capacity of 28-62 times its own weight [27]. The kapok fiber was also utilized as biotemplate to prepare a porous microtubular nanostructure.…”