Bionic Aerogel with a Lotus Leaf-like Structure for Efficient Oil-Water Separation and Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Overview

Journal Gels

Date 2023 Mar 28

PMID 36975663

Authors

Fengqi Liu

Yonggang Jiang

Junzong Feng

Liangjun Li

Jian Feng

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Increasing pollution from industrial wastewater containing oils or organic solvents poses a serious threat to both the environment and human health. Compared to complex chemical modifications, bionic aerogels with intrinsic hydrophobic properties exhibit better durability and are considered as ideal adsorbents for oil-water separation. However, the construction of biomimetic three-dimensional (3D) structures by simple methods is still a great challenge. Here, we prepared biomimetic superhydrophobic aerogels with lotus leaf-like structures by growing carbon coatings on AlO nanorod-carbon nanotube hybrid backbones. Thanks to its multicomponent synergy and unique structure, this fascinating aerogel can be directly obtained through a simple conventional sol-gel and carbonization process. The aerogels exhibit excellent oil-water separation (22 g·g), recyclability (over 10 cycles) and dye adsorption properties (186.2 mg·g for methylene blue). In addition, benefiting from the conductive porous structure, the aerogels also demonstrate outstanding electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding capabilities (~40 dB in X-band). This work presents fresh insights for the preparation of multifunctional biomimetic aerogels.

Citing Articles

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