Fe3O4@PANI/chitosan composite aerogel with electromagnetic induction heating capacity toward efficient removing viscous oil

The leakage of oil will cause serious damage to the environment. However, it is a challenge for porous absorbents to quickly and completely absorb high viscosity oils such as crude oil or asphalt. Although there are some absorbents generating heat with the aid of sunlight or electricity to heat, thin, and absorb this viscous oil, these heating methods have defects such as inefficiency or unsafety. Herein, we utilize polyaniline and Fe3O4 to develop a chitosan composite aerogel absorbent with magnetism and conductivity so that it is able to generate heat in an alternating magnetic field, thus providing a safe, efficient, and non-contact method to clean up the viscous oil. The samples can be reused by extrusion, and the absorption process can be repeated without deterioration. Moreover, this absorbent can also be heated by sunlight, which realizes a strategy in which the absorbent absorbs the viscous oil under sunlight to conserve energy but switches to induction heating to rapidly clean up the oil spills in an emergency.