Solar-assisted self-heating TiCT-decorated wood aerogel for adsorption and recovery of highly viscous crude oil.

Frequent oil-spill accidents have posed serious threats to ecosystem balance and the efficiency of resources use. Hydrophobic adsorbents that can adsorb and recover oil without causing secondary pollution are ideal candidates for the remediation of oil contamination in water. However, these composites are inefficient for crude oil-spills cleanup because crude oil has low liquidity of at room temperature. Increasing the temperature can effectively enhance the flowability of crude oil. To achieve efficient crude-oil heating and removal in situ, wood aerogels were immersed in TiCT suspensions and then coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to obtain a solar-heated adsorbent (PT-WA). The prepared PT-WA exhibits super-hydrophobicity (water contact angle: 154° ± 2°), mechanical robustness (withstanding 20 loading-unloading cycles under 50% strain without structural damage), strong solar absorption, and favorable photothermal-conversion capability (rising to ~85 °C within 90 s under 1.5 sun). Owing to these advantages, PT-WA is an effective adsorbent for crude oil cleanup. In addition, a 'self-heating crude oil collector' was assembled for the fast adsorption and restoration of crude oil from the water surface. This solar-assisted self-heating sorbent offers a competitive platform for the cleanup and recycling of viscous crude oil spills.