Reduced graphene aerogels as energy efficient selective oil sorbents
Graphene aerogels are widely used in the oil–water system as they possess high internal surface area and super-oleophilic properties. However, they tend to absorb water along with oil, and to overcome this problem; surface coatings are generally employed using expensive fluoro-silane compounds. It leads to an increase in production costs and environmental concerns. Herein, we report super-hydrophobic 3D graphene aerogels as selective oil sorbent for oil–water separation. The reduction of oxygen-containing functional groups on the surface of graphene aerogels has been studied and characterized with FTIR. The thermal treatment of up to 700 °C was carried out using an in-house flow system. The gases used to reduce graphene oxide aerogel are H2 and N2 with an optimized ratio of 5:95. The presence of H2 significantly decreased the oxygen-containing functional groups in graphene aerogel. The increase in the C/O ratio results in higher uptake capacity due to higher surface area and pore volume. The thermal reduction yields a C/O ratio of 24:1, slightly higher than most reported values.
Other Information
Published in: Energy Reports
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
See article on publisher's website: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2022.10.076
Funding
Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library
History
Language
- English
Publisher
ElsevierPublication Year
- 2022
License statement
This Item is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International LicenseInstitution affiliated with
- Hamad Bin Khalifa University
- College of Science and Engineering - HBKU
- Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute - HBKU
- Qatar University
- Center for Advanced Materials - QU