Robust superhydrophobic Fe3O4/PAN/PBA nanofibrous aerogel with photo/magneto-thermal properties for efficient all-weather cleanup of viscous crude oil spills

Developing efficient absorbents for the cleanup of highly viscous crude oil spills is of critical importance. The current light-to-heat/electric-to-heat methods to reduce the viscosity of crude oil were limited by the complicated preparation processes, weather conditions and potential risk of electrical leakage. Here, a robust superhydrophobic composite Fe3O4/PAN/PBA nanofibrous aerogel (NFA) with excellent photo/magneto-thermal performance for efficient all-weather viscous crude oil spill remediation was fabricated by integrating facile blend electrospinning and freeze-drying techniques. Due to its superhydrophobicity/superoleophilicity (water contact angle of 151.3° and oil contact angle of 0°) and anisotropic microchannel structure, the composite NFA exhibited rapid adsorption kinetics and ultra-high absorption capacity (54.4 − 97.1 g/g) toward various low-viscosity oils and organic solvents. Meanwhile, it displayed outstanding mechanical recyclability (84.07 % recovery after 200 cycles at 80 % strain) and reusability (86.74 % of the initial capacity after 10 absorption-squeezing cycles). Notably, the composite NFA also showed excellent photo/magneto-thermal conversion efficiency, allowing it to achieve continuous and efficient cleanup of crude oil (recovery rate of 6.67 x103 kg m−3h−1) via peristaltic pumping. Therefore, this material holds great potential for all-weather cleanup of crude oil spills.