Biomimetic, Highly Reusable and Hydrophobic Graphene/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Cellulose Nanofiber Aerogels as Oil-Removing Absorbents
School of Light Industry and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
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Academic Editor: Amparo Ribes-Greus
Polymers 2022, 14(6), 1077; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14061077
Received: 29 November 2021
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Revised: 18 February 2022
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Accepted: 26 February 2022
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Published: 8 March 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure and Properties of Polymers for Smart Applications)
Aerogels have great potential in oil absorption applications; however, many reported aerogels have the drawbacks of a low oil-recovery rate and poor mechanical properties, which limit their application. In this study, highly reusable graphene oxide (GO)/TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofiber (TOCN)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) aerogels with excellent mechanical properties and with an architecture similar to that of Thalia dealbata stems were fabricated through a three-step process of bidirectional-freezing, freeze-drying, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) modification. After CVD modification, the modified GTPA (MGTPA) accorded hydrophobicity. The synergistic effects of the three components and the unique biomimetic structure conferred biomimetic-MGTPA (b-MGTPA) with excellent compressible properties. As an adsorbent, b-MGTPA showed a high adsorption capacity (75–151 g/g) for various types of organic solvents. In addition, its high compressibility enables b-MGTPA to have fast and highly efficient recovery of absorbed oil through simple mechanical squeezing and it possesses excellent reusable stability (the oil recovery rate and oil retention rate reached 80% and 91.5%, respectively, after 10 repeated absorption–compression cycles).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Feng, P.; Wang, X.; Yang, J. Biomimetic, Highly Reusable and Hydrophobic Graphene/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Cellulose Nanofiber Aerogels as Oil-Removing Absorbents. Polymers 2022, 14, 1077. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14061077
AMA Style
Feng P, Wang X, Yang J. Biomimetic, Highly Reusable and Hydrophobic Graphene/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Cellulose Nanofiber Aerogels as Oil-Removing Absorbents. Polymers. 2022; 14(6):1077. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14061077
Chicago/Turabian StyleFeng, Peiyuan, Xiwen Wang, and Jin Yang. 2022. "Biomimetic, Highly Reusable and Hydrophobic Graphene/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Cellulose Nanofiber Aerogels as Oil-Removing Absorbents" Polymers 14, no. 6: 1077. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14061077
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