Superhydrophobic Mesoporous Graphene for Separation and Absorption

Abstract

Mesoporous graphene with a surface area of 306 m2 g−1 was synthesized by employing CaCO3 microspheres as hard templates. By surface modification with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) through chemical vapor deposition, the wettability of as‐treated mesoporous graphene can be tailored to be superhydrophobic to water while superoleophilic to oils. The deposition of the low‐surface‐energy silicon‐coating originated from PDMS pyrolysis on porous graphene was confirmed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. As a result of its porous structures and excellent surface superhydrophobicity, the PDMS‐treated mesoporous graphene exhibits good selectivity, excellent recyclability, and good absorption performance (up to 66 g g−1) for a wide range of oils and organic solvents. Thus, leading to potential use in a variety of applications such as water treatment and purification as well as cleanup of oil spills.

Amphiphilic superabsorbent cellulose nanofibril aerogels

“…200 g per g to 350 g per g, i.e., one order of magnitude higher than previously reported values for cellulose aerogels (20-40 times), 20 and at least 2-3 times greater than CNT sponge (80-180 times), 27 carbonaceous aerogels (40-120 times), 33 graphene sponges (54-165 times), 29 mesoporous graphene (up to 66 times) 49 and activated carbon coated sponges (27-86 times).…”

Synthesis of novel porous graphene nanocomposite and its use as electrode and absorbent

“…16 Thus, in this work, we also investigate the absorption capacity of HFG for organic solvents. In our previous work, we also synthesized porous graphene with 3D structure using a hard template method, which shows good separation and selective absorption of organics from water.…”

Kapok fiber as a natural source for fabrication of oil absorbent

“…Graphene has attracted tremendous attention in both academic and commercial fields due to its outstanding performance. It can be used for oil sorption and dispersed in a polymer matrix to enhance its hydrophobicity and oleophilicity . Graphene‐coated sponge with high hydrophobicity and oleophilicity has been reported in some research .…”