MXene/Graphene modified cellulose aerogel for photo-electro-assisted all-weather cleanup of high-viscous crude oil from spill

Bingqian Bi; Yihao Guan; Di Qiao; Xiuping Chen; Mutai Bao; Zhining Wang; Yiming Li

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132353

MXene/Graphene modified cellulose aerogel for photo-electro-assisted all-weather cleanup of high-viscous crude oil from spill

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Oct 15:460:132353. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132353. Epub 2023 Aug 26.

Authors

Bingqian Bi¹, Yihao Guan¹, Di Qiao¹, Xiuping Chen¹, Mutai Bao¹, Zhining Wang², Yiming Li³

Affiliations

¹ Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, PR China; College of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, PR China.
² Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, PR China.
³ Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, PR China; College of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, PR China. Electronic address: liym@ouc.edu.cn.

PMID: 37657327
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132353

Abstract

The frequent occurrence of oil spills has led to serious environmental pollution and ecological issues. Given the high-viscosity of crude oil, it is essential to develop sorbents with efficient viscosity reduction and sorption capacity in various environmental conditions. Herein, a superhydrophobic carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) aerogel co-modified by MXene and graphene jointly (M-Mxene/Gr CA) with aligned channels structure was prepared. The aligned channels structure can effectively improve the longitudinal thermal conductivity and reduce the sorption resistance. Through the modification of MXene and graphene, the aerogel realized efficient photo/electro-thermal conversion, thus ensuring its adaption to various working environments. The rapid heat generation can significantly reduce the viscosity of crude oil, achieving rapid recovery. Under one sun illumination (1.0 kW/m²), the surface temperature of M-Mxene/Gr CA can reach 72.6 °C and its sorption capability for high-viscous crude oil reaches 18 g/g. Combining photo-thermal and electro-thermal (0.5 kW/m² and 23 V), the average sorption rate of crude oil can reach 1.3 × 10⁷ g m^-3 s^-1. Finally, we present a continuous sorption system to recover offshore oil spills under the assistance of a pump. This work provides a new option for tackling high-viscous offshore oil spills due to its environmental friendliness and fast sorption capacity.

Keywords: Aerogel; Crude oil; MXene; Photoelectric-thermal; Sorption.