الفهرس 
Preparation Approaches of 3D porous Graphene-Based FoamsOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The separation of oil-in-water emulsions has become an extremely important for both
environmentally and industrial related applications. Herein, graphene-based foam
(rGO@MF) was developed and utilized for separating various heavy oil-in-water
emulsions as well as oil/water mixtures. The superhydrophobic sponge was engineered
through facile surface-treatment and hydrothermal steps. The surface and structural
properties of the rGO@MF sponge and the nanoemulsions were thoroughly characterized
by advanced techniques. The high-resolution SEM and EDX mapping confirmed the
homogeneous distribution of rGO sheets surrounding the fibers. The developed rGO@MF
foam showed excellent chemical stability and durability. The correlation between the oil
type, droplet size and concentration of oil/water mixtures and emulsions, and the
rGO@MF adsorption capacity and removal efficiency, were extensively investigated. For
the oil/water mixture, the rGO@MF modified foam showed excellent adsorption
performance for various oils and organic solvents exhibited high adsorption capacity up to
140 g/g for chloroform. In addition to, the adsorption capacity of the rGO@MF modified
foam even reach up 127 g/g for chloroform after it was reused 10 times by squeezing. The
developed superhydrophobic rGO@MF foam showed water contact angle of " ~ "164º and
exhibited superior adsorption capacity and removal efficiency of up to 5647 mg/g and
95±3% respectively, for crude oil-in-water of 30 g/l. Besides, the rGO@MF modified
sponge is demonstrated to have excellent recyclability. The adsorption capacity of the
rGO@MF modified foam even reach up to 92% after it was reused 10 times by squeezing.
The rGO@MF foam maintained its high separation performance over ten consecutive
adsorption cycles. The calculated activated adsorption energy for crude oil-in-water
emulsion on rGO@MF foam was 16.59 kJ mol-1 indicating a physical adsorption process.
The adsorption kinetics and interactions were carefully explored and a general mechanism
of separation for both oil-in-water nanoemulsions and oil/water mixtures was introduced.
In addition to rGO@MF foams its practical application as flexible strain sensors of
different dimensions. These unique foam show enhanced mechanical strength and
excellent electromechanical properties, which possesses the capability of detecting
multiple deformation forms including tensile strain,
impact, bending, and twisting.