Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, P.R. China.
ChemSusChem. 2020 Feb 21;13(4):749-755. doi: 10.1002/cssc.201902970. Epub 2020 Jan 21.
The importance of water cannot be overstated. It is the most important natural resource for our survival and development. The development of suitable materials for efficient water purification will provide a critical contribution for sustainable water use. In this context, a gel-emulsion-templated synthesis of a polymeric aerogel has been developed for water treatment. Owing to its hydrophobic nature, the aerogel shows high sorption (nearly 20 times its weight) for organic liquids, such as toluene, phenol, and nitrobenzene, and can be used to remove them from water. The aerogel shows low thermal conductivity (0.032 W m K ) and excellent light absorption efficiency (>92 %) after carbonization, which provides the possibility for the construction of an interfacial solar vapor generation system. The as-prepared materials are used to develop a two-step approach to remove both organic and inorganic contaminants (salts) from water. Importantly, the aerogel shows excellent reusability and high efficiency both for oil sorption and for solar vapor generation. Moreover, the low cost and easy scale-up of the preparation process lay a solid foundation for practical application. It is anticipated that the prepared aerogels would contribute not only to water purification but also to other related areas.
水的重要性怎么强调都不为过。它是我们生存和发展最重要的自然资源。开发适合高效水净化的材料将为可持续用水做出重要贡献。在这种情况下，已经开发出了一种用于水处理的凝胶乳液模板聚合气凝胶。由于其疏水性，气凝胶对甲苯、苯酚和硝基苯等有机液体表现出高吸附性（接近其重量的 20 倍），可用于从水中去除这些液体。碳化后，气凝胶表现出低导热系数（0.032 W m K）和优异的光吸收效率（>92%），这为构建界面太阳能蒸汽发生系统提供了可能性。所制备的材料用于开发一种两步法，从水中去除有机和无机污染物（盐）。重要的是，气凝胶在吸油和太阳能蒸汽发生方面均表现出出色的可重复使用性和高效率。此外，制备过程的低成本和易于规模化为实际应用奠定了坚实的基础。预计所制备的气凝胶不仅将有助于水的净化，而且将有助于其他相关领域。
