Superhydrophobic and superoleophilic "sponge-like" aerogels for oil/water separation

    Authors

    Y. X. Yu; X. Y. Wu;J. Y. Fang

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Mater. Sci.

    Keywords

    SILICA AEROGELS; PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES; OIL REMOVAL; WASTE-WATER; METHYLTRIMETHOXYSILANE; EFFICIENCY; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary

    Abstract

    We report a facile approach to synthesize superhydrophobic and superoleophilic "sponge-like" aerogels through sol-gel reaction followed by supercritical drying, in which MTES and DMDES are used as co-precursors, EtOH as a solvent, CTAB as a surfactant, and HCl and NH3 center dot H2O as catalysts. The MTES-DMDES-based aerogels formed at the optimal molar ratio of MTES: DMDES: EtOH: H2O: HCl: NH3 center dot H2O: CTAB at 1.1: 0.9: 6: 12: 2 x 10(-3): 2 x 10(-3): 0.14 with a low density of 0.0897 g/cm(3) show a compression ratio of 80 % under 36.85 kPa stress. They are superhydrophobic and superoleophilic with a water contact angle of 153.6A degrees and an oil contact angle of 0A degrees. We find that the MTES-DMDES-based aerogels show the high adsorption capacity for various kinds of organic liquids and the excellent recyclability in removing oil from water.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Materials Science

    Volume

    50

    Issue/Number

    15

    Publication Date

    1-1-2015

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    5115

    Last Page

    5124

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000354961400001

    ISSN

    0022-2461

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