Enhanced Oil Adsorption and Nano-Emulsion Separation of Nanofibrous Aerogels by Coordination of Pomelo Peel-Derived Biochar

In this study, porous biochar/nanofibrous aerogels (PBNA) with a superhydrophobic surface and hierarchical porous structure were facilely fabricated by incorporating pomelo peel-derived biochar microparticles through a freeze-shaping method. With the PB content increased from 2.5 to 12 wt %, highly deformable PBNA showed structural robustness and adsorbed various organic solvents and oils at a fast rate with adsorption capacity (Q) of chloroform and soybean oil at 120.3 and 118.5 g/g, respectively. PBNA-4 with 12 wt % PB microparticles can effectively separate the water-in-oil type of micro- and nano-emulsions with separation efficiencies up to 99.6%. In addition, porous biochar/nanofibrous membranes (PBNM) realized continuous separation of nano-emulsions with high flux. This study demonstrates an example of fabricating nanofibrous aerogels and membranes for enhanced performance of oil/water separation by coordination of biochar.