Versatile and Cost-Efficient Cleanup of Viscous Crude Oil By an Elastic Carbon Sorbent From Direct Pyrolysis of a Melamine Foam

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-14-2021

School

Polymer Science and Engineering

Abstract

Rational sorbent technology for crude oil cleanup requires the capability of rapid uptake and a low-cost and simple processing method for large-scale manufacturing. Herein, an elastic carbon sorbent can be fabricated through the direct pyrolysis of a melamine foam at 1000 °C for 2 h. The carbonized melamine foam (CMF) is light weight (density: 5.4 mg cm−3; porosity > 97.2%), superhydrophobic (water contact angle: 151 ± 2°), mechanically robust (complete recovery after 80% strain deformation) and highly efficient in crude oil uptake (148.7 g g−1 crude oil at 60 °C). More importantly, the CMF has excellent photo- and Joule-thermal conversion efficiency for significantly reducing the viscosity of heavy crude oil under mild sunlight exposure or a relatively low voltage. These advantages enable CMFs to provide a fast cleanup approach for accidental oil spills under all weather conditions. Continuous oil recovery has also been demonstrated by using a piece of heated CMF and a vacuum pump. Overall, the CMF offers an ideal material solution for addressing large-scale crude oil cleanup through its versatile and efficient cleanup approaches.

Publication Title

Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Volume

9

Issue

18

First Page

11268

Last Page

11277

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