Graphene-Coated Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Nonwoven Hollow Tube for Continuous and Highly Effective Oil Collection from the Water Surface

Graphene (GE) has attracted significant
attention on account of
its unique structure and superior performance, arousing a new research
field for materials science. Herein, a novel GE-coated poly­(ethylene
terephthalate) nonwoven (PGNW) hollow tube (PGNW-T) was fabricated
for continuous and highly effective oil collection from the water
surface. The PGNW was prepared via a dip-spray coating method, which
possessed superhydrophobicity–superoleophilicity and could
absorb a variety of oils or organic solvents with the absorption capacity
(Q) value of 18–34 times its own weight. Then,
PGNW-T was obtained through winding the PGNW on the surface of a porous
polypropylene hollow tube. As-prepared PGNW-T was competent for dynamic
oil collection with high flux (18 799.94 L/m2 h),
outstanding separation efficiency (97.14%), and excellent recyclability
(>96% after 10 cycles) from the oil/water mixture. In particular,
a miniature device based on as-prepared PGNW-T was developed for continuous
thin oil film collection, which could dynamically “catch up”
floated oils or organic solvents from the water surface. Finally,
our strategy is extremely facile to scale up, showing its huge potential
application in practical oil-spill remediation.