Facile synthesis of reduced graphene oxide/trimethyl chlorosilane-coated cellulose nanofibres aerogel for oil absorption

• Published in: IET nanobiotechnology 2017-12, Vol.11 (8), p.929-934
• Main Authors: Xu, Zhaoyang, Zhou, Huan, Jiang, Xiangdong, Li, Jianyu, Huang, Fang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: absorption; aerogels; Cellulose - chemistry; dip coating; facile dip‐coating process; facile synthesis; Gels - chemistry; graphene; Graphite - chemistry; hydrophobicity; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; nanofabrication; Nanofibers - chemistry; nanofibres; oil absorption capacities; oil expulsion; oil pollution; oil spill cleanup; Oils - chemistry; reduced graphene oxide‐trimethyl chlorosilane‐coated cellulose nanofibre aerogel; Research Article; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Spectrum Analysis, Raman; Surface Properties; three‐dimensional structure; TMCS‐rGO‐CNF aerogel; Trimethylsilyl Compounds - chemistry; water surfaces; X-Ray Diffraction
• ISSN: 1751-8741; 1751-875X; 1751-875X
• DOI: 10.1049/iet-nbt.2017.0063

A hydrophobic and oleophilic trimethyl chlorosilane/reduced graphene oxide-coated cellulose nanofibres (TMCS/rGO/CNFs) aerogel with a three-dimensional structure was fabricated through a facile dip-coating process. The prepared aerogel exhibited several advantageous properties for absorption and expulsion of oils from water surfaces, such as a high specific surface area, low density (6.78 mg/cm3) and good porosity (99.12％). In addition, the TMCS/rGO/CNFs aerogel demonstrated good absorption capacities up to 39 times its own weight over a short time (1.5 min) for a broad range of oils. This research suggests that practical application of TMCS/rGO/CNFs aerogel in the cleanup of an oil spill is feasible.