Recent Developments and Advancements in Graphene-Based Technologies for Oil Spill Cleanup and Oil–Water Separation Processes
The vast demand for petroleum industry products led to the increased production of oily wastewaters and has led to many possible separation technologies. In addition to production-related oily wastewater, direct oil spills are associated with detrimental effects on the local ecosystems. Accordingly, this review paper aims to tackle the oil spill cleanup issue as well as water separation by providing a wide range of graphene-based technologies. These include graphene-based membranes; graphene sponges; graphene-decorated meshes; graphene hydrogels; graphene aerogels; graphene foam; and graphene-coated cotton. Sponges and aerogels modified by graphene and reduced graphene oxide demonstrated effective oil water separation owing to their superhydrophobic/superoleophilic properties. In addition, oil particles are intercepted while allowing water molecules to penetrate the graphene-oxide-coated metal meshes and membranes thanks to their superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic properties. Finally, we offer future perspectives on oil water separation that are hindering the advancements of such technologies and their large-scale applications.
Other Information
Published in: Nanomaterials
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
See article on publisher's website: https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano12010087
Funding
Qatar National Research Fund (NPRP12S-0306-190247), Block Copolymer Membranes with Highly Uniform Pores for Advanced Oil/Water Ultrafiltration: Design, Evaluation, and Industrially Scalable Roll to Roll Processing.
Qatar University (IRCC-2020-0-16).
History
Language
- English
Publisher
MDPIPublication Year
- 2021
License statement
This Item is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Institution affiliated with
- Qatar University
- College of Engineering - QU
- Center for Advanced Materials - QU
- College of Arts and Sciences - QU