Unconventional Petroleum Research Institute, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, People's Republic of China; CNPC Bohai Drilling Engineering Company Limited, Tianjin 300280, People's Republic of China.
Unconventional Petroleum Research Institute, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, People's Republic of China.
J Hazard Mater. 2022 Aug 5;435:129018. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129018. Epub 2022 Apr 27.
Crude oil spills have caused catastrophic damage to marine ecosystems and become a global challenge. Although various liquid absorption materials have been developed, manual operations such as pumping and electric heating are still required in the face of highly viscous spilled oils. Efficient and autonomous crude oil spill cleanup methods are urgently needed. Here, inspired by the unidirectional microstructure of tree xylem, we report a sponge (SPC-Sponge), which combines superhydrophobic property and aligned porous structures, prepared from a ternary suspension (hydrophobic silica nanoparticles, polyurethane, and cellulose nanofibers) by single-step directional freeze casting. SPC-Sponge not only effectively overcome the limitations of traditional synthetic modification methods on the shape and size of porous sponge materials, but also has excellent oil-water selection function, liquid absorption speed, and liquid absorption capacity compared with common porous materials. Moreover, the sponge can self-absorb highly viscous crude oil of around 80,000 mPa‧s on seawater without external energy and human intervention. By adding multi-walled carbon nanotubes, the sponge can implement in-situ solar heating of crude oil, and the absorption speed is further improved. Given its unique structural design and superwetting property, this SPC-Sponge provides an efficient remediation approach for viscous oil spills.
原油泄漏对海洋生态系统造成了灾难性的破坏，成为全球性的挑战。尽管已经开发出各种液体吸收材料，但面对高粘度泄漏油，仍需要进行泵送和电加热等手动操作。因此，迫切需要高效且自主的原油泄漏清理方法。在这里，受树木木质部单向微观结构的启发，我们报告了一种海绵（SPC-Sponge），它由疏水二氧化硅纳米颗粒、聚氨酯和纤维素纳米纤维的三元悬浮液通过一步定向冷冻铸造制备而成，具有超疏水性和取向多孔结构。SPC-Sponge 不仅有效克服了传统合成改性方法对多孔海绵材料形状和尺寸的限制，而且与普通多孔材料相比，具有优异的油水选择功能、液体吸收速度和液体吸收能力。此外，该海绵无需外部能量和人为干预即可自行吸收约 80,000 mPa·s 的高粘度海水原油。通过添加多壁碳纳米管，海绵可以实现原油的原位太阳能加热，进一步提高吸收速度。鉴于其独特的结构设计和超润湿性，这种 SPC-Sponge 为粘性油泄漏提供了一种有效的修复方法。
