Nanoscale Silica Coated Graphene Oxide and Its Demulsifying Performance in Water-in-oil and Oil-in-water Emulsions

Abstract

In present study, GO@SiO2 nanocomposites was prepared by coating nanoscale silica onto graphene oxide (GO). The nanocomposites were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (IF-IR). Additionally, the demulsifying performance of the nanocomposites was investigated by the bottle test method. The results showed that GO@SiO2 nanocomposites had a good demulsifying performance both in oil-in-water (O/W) and water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions. When the concentration of GO@SiO2 was 200 ppm in O/W emulsion, the optimal light transmittance of aqueous phase (LTA) and corresponding oil removal rate (ORR) at room temperature could reach 86.9% and 99.48%, respectively. Also, GO@SiO2 had an excellent salt tolerance under acidic condition. Furthermore, GO@SiO2 nanocomposites also could demulsify the W/O emulsion, and the efficiency at 70℃ could reach 80.5% when the concentration was 400 ppm.