Green synthesis of graphene aerogel and its application in oil adsorption and phase change material

Abstract

With the development of Chinese economic, watershed pollution situation is getting worse and gradually attracts people’s attention. Graphene aerogel (GA) is an ideal material for removing water pollution, due to its high porosity, high specific surface area, and stability. A green and convenient method for GA synthesis was proposed by using graphene oxide dispersion as raw material, triethanolamine as reducing agent, and Blue Moon hand sanitizer as surfactant. The microstructure, hydrophobic and mechanical properties of GA were thoroughly characterized. The adsorption of the prepared aerogel for dichloromethane and ethyl acetate was 240 and 174 times of its own mass, respectively. Moreover, it shows good recirculation adsorption capacity under the 100 compression-adsorption cycles of 50% maximum stress. A paraffin-GA phase change material with good thermal conductivity was also prepared and characterized. This indicates that the prepared GA has a wide range of applications.