Ultralow-Density Mesoporous PDMS-Doped Graphene Oxide Foam for Cyclic Oil Absorption and FOG Deposition Mitigation

In this article, the ice-templating method was employed to produce 3D graphene oxide (GO) foam from a GO suspension prepared via an improved Hummer method. The GO foam was doped with PDMS and cured to improve the flexibility and stability. The foam exhibited excellent oil absorption performance due to its high porosity, enhanced surface area, and strong selectivity (highly oleophilic and hydrophobic). Structural characterizations using Raman, XRD, XPS, ToF-SIMS, SEM, BET, etc., confirmed that PDMS was successfully incorporated in the interconnected three-dimensional multilayer GO foam. The GO/PDMS foam was employed as a substrate for oil/water separation, showing remarkable absorption for different types of oils ranging from 6.6 to 11.6 g/g, exceeding that of many conventional sorbents. The compressibility analysis and burning experiment of GO-PDMS foam showed that the foam did not compromise its structural integrity even after a hundred (100) cycles at 40% and 60% compressive strain and ten (10) cycles of subsequent burning. The PDMS-doped GO foam was then employed in artificial sewage wastewater to investigate the effect of the foam on fat, oil, and grease (FOG) deposit formation. The experiment was run for 15–45 days, and a 14.1-to-17.1-fold reduction of FOG deposition in the presence of the foam was observed compared to its absence. Therefore, the GO-PDMS foam provides a unique opportunity to use nanomaterials to solve oil spillage scenarios and prevent FOG deposition. It exceptionally outperforms traditional materials in terms of capacity and reusability and promises to be an eco-friendly material for environmental remediation.