Fabrication of nanoporous graphene by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and its application in oil spill removal as a recyclable nanosorbent

In this research, nanoporous graphene which is used as nanosorbent was synthesized by CVD method and the product was characterized by SEM, TEM, BET, TGA, XRD. FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy. The sorption of two samples of crude oil and also hydrocarbons which cause severe environmental pollution especially in water, on to nanoporous graphene was studied. Due to the high pore volume (1.17 cm3/g), large specific surface area (410 m2/g) and small pore size, high sorption capacity was achieved. Maximum sorption capacity of this nanoporous graphene for two samples of crude oil (A) and (B) was 102.17 and 105.39 g crude oil/g nanosorbent, respectively. The maximum sorption capacity of this nanosorbent for hydrocarbons was obtained at 155.46 g hydrocarbon per gram nanosorbent.Crude oils and hydrocarbons sorbed into nanoporous graphene could be recovered by three methods of heat treatment, extraction with solvent and filtration under mild suction with the proper recovery ratio. The recovery capacity by three methods was obtained, 99.01, 98.50, 98.05%, respectively. By means of these recycling methods, crude oil can be separated from nanosorbent and reused after the recovery. According to proper performance and good shaping ability of this nanosorbent, it can be used as a good candidate in the removal of oil spills.