Department of Chemistry and Earth Sciences at Qatar University has made significant strides in addressing the challenge of oil-water separation

Undergraduate students from Qatar University's Department of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, Maimoona Mohamed and Nada Yahya Deyab, and their supervisor, Dr. Shabi Abbas Zaidi, Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry, have made significant progress in addressing the challenge of oil-water separation. Their research is centered on the development of new material for effective oil recovery from oil-water combinations. They achieved promising results in terms of hydrophobicity, oil-absorption efficacy, reusability, and cost-effectiveness by modifying polyurethane (PU) sponge and cotton with reduced graphene oxide (rGO), offering a promising solution to the grave issue of water and soil pollution caused by oil spills.

Oil spills from transportation, home use, and industrial activity have long been a source of worry because of their negative impact on the environment. The scientific world has been actively researching viable ways for oil recovery and separation from water for some time, and the team at QU has achieved substantial progress in this regard.

Polyurethane sponges' 3D porous structure has showed promise in oil-water separation applications; nevertheless, their low hydrophobicity restricts their oil-absorption efficacy. To address this issue, the researchers concentrated on increasing the sponge's hydrophobicity by altering it with graphene oxide (GO) and then reducing it to reduced graphene oxide (rGO) using a commonly accessible green reducing agent, L-ascorbic acid (L-AA).

Mixing 1g of graphite flakes with 23 ml of 98% H2SO4, followed by stirring for 24 hours at room temperature, was involved in the process of synthesizing GO. Subsequently, 100mg of NaNO3 was added, and the mixture was stirred for 30 minutes.