Photothermal ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene/MXene aerogel for crude oil adsorption and water evaporation

Abstract The frequent oil spill accidents during oil exploration and transportation have caused large economic loss and catastrophic environmental disasters. Due to low cost and simplicity, adsorption and filtration materials are often chosen to deal with oil spills, but the outcomes are not satisfactory mainly because of the awfully high viscosity of crude oil. Herein a photothermal ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene/MXene composite aerogel with a high light absorption (99.97%) and water repellency (water contact angle >148°) is developed by thermally induced phase separation method. The composite aerogel endows durable hydrophobicity with which the water contact angle is more than 142° in acidic/alkaline environments, and the maximum absorption capacity of 81 g g −1 . In addition, it exhibits an excellent photothermal performance, rising surface temperature to 70 °C within 60 s under 1 sun irradiation, that can drastically reduce the crude oil absorption time from 60 min to 60 s, saving 98% of absorption time and reaching a crude oil absorption capacity of 21 g g −1 . More interestingly, the designed solar evaporation device with the obtained composite aerogel can achieve an evaporation rate of 1.15 kg m −2 h −1 and evaporation efficiency of 74%. The designed composite aerogel opens a possible pathway for solar-powered crude oil adsorption applications.