Abstract
Oil spills have huge and immediate economically, socially, and environmentally adverse impacts. Current methods to remediate oil spills do not provide a sustainable solution, in terms of cost, ease of deployment, and further impact on the environment. Here we report an oil spill remediation solution in form of an oleophilic, hydrophobic, and magnetic (OHM) sponge that is economical, efficient, and ecofriendly; thereby promising a potentially industry-adaptable approach. The OHM sponge can not only selectively remove the oil from oil/water interface but also recover the oil by a simple squeezing process. Furthermore, the OHM sponge can be reused for many cycles. The OHM sponge works effectively in diverse and extreme aquatic conditions (pH, salinity) and can absorb a variety of oils and oil-based compounds. The selective absorption/desorption, recovery, high absorption capacity, and reusability under one platform open new prospects for potentially sustainable water and environmental remediation applications.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 10945-10954 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research |
Volume | 59 |
Issue number | 23 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 10 2020 |
Funding
The research related to oxide nanostructured architecture was initially supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMR-1507810 (Ceramics Program, PM: Dr. Lynnette Madsen). Y.M. acknowledges support from Northwestern University Summer Undergraduate Research Grant. This work made use of the (EPIC, Keck-II, and/or SPID) facilities of the NUANCE Center at Northwestern University, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF NNCI-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. The authors thank Kathleen Dewan and Chinmay Menon for their useful contribution. A provisional patent has been filed based on this research.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- General Chemical Engineering
- Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering