Nanotechnol Rev 2016; 5(1): 3–22
Review
Shu Wan, Hengchang Bi and Litao Sun*
Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as
highly efficient adsorbents for oils and organic
solvents
DOI 10.1515/ntrev-2015-0062
Received October 15, 2015; accepted December 7, 2015; previously
published online January 21, 2016
Abstract: This paper provides a comprehensive review
of recent progress in the synthesis and performance of
­graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient
adsorbents for oils and organic solvents. Several advan-
tages of these adsorbents are emphasized, including
adjustable three-dimensional networks, high surface
area, high chemical/thermal stability, high flexibility and
elasticity, and extremely high surface hydrophobicity/
oleophilicity. Technical challenges are discussed, and
future research directions are proposed.
Keywords: adsorbents; carbon-based; graphene; sponge.
1 Introduction
Scientific and technological research in electronics, bio-
logical science, energy, and environment faces challenges
regarding performance, functionality, and durability of
key materials [1]. Advanced materials play significant
roles in overcoming major challenges and achieving
breakthroughs in technological and practical application.
These materials include carbon-based nanomaterials,
such as carbon black, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon
*Corresponding author: Litao Sun, SEU-FEI Nano-Pico Center,
Key Laboratory of MEMS of Ministry of Education, Collaborative
Innovation Center for Micro/Nano Fabrication, Device and System,
Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China,
e-mail: slt@seu.edu.cn; and Center for Advanced Materials and
Manufacture, Joint Research Institute of Southeast University and
Monash University, Suzhou 215123, China
Shu Wan and Hengchang Bi: SEU-FEI Nano-Pico Center, Key
Laboratory of MEMS of Ministry of Education, Collaborative
Innovation Center for Micro/Nano Fabrication, Device and System,
Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China; and Center for
Advanced Carbon Materials, Southeast University and Jiangnan
Graphene Research Institute, Changzhou 213100, China
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nanofibers, and graphene. These advanced carbon nano-
materials are widely adopted in various important appli-
cations such as energy harvesting and storage, sensing,
catalysis, transistors, and antipollution [2–11].
Pollution caused by crude oil, petroleum products, and
toxic organic solvents is a big threat to marine ecosystem
and economy. Porous adsorbents are used to resolve spills
of oils and organic solvents. Natural porous adsorbers,
such as wool, sawdust, expanded perlite, and zeolites, are
traditionally used for spill cleanups because of their acces-
sibility [12–14]. However, these conventional materials have
low oil-adsorbing capacity (less than 10 × their own weight)
and high water-adsorption characteristic, hindering the
extraction and recycling of these adsorbents. Hydropho-
bic and microporous polymers are moldable. Moreover,
these materials can adsorb 5 × to 25 × their own weight in
both oils and organic solvents, up to 80% of which can be
extracted by squeezing [15, 16]. Expanded graphite is an
important alternative for low-cost oil removal. This mate-
rial showed high adsorption efficiency of up to 83 × its own
weight, and up to 70% of the adsorbates can be retrieved
by vacuum filtration [17]. However, the particulates do not
exhibit high adsorption of organic solvents, whereas the
powder form is difficult to use, and the material can only
be recycled a few times (only 17% capacity remains after
five cycles) [18, 19]. Development of new materials that can
effectively and reversibly remove organic solvents and oil
spill contaminants is critical to future oil spill cleanup and
water ­remediation required for environmental protection.
Three-dimensional (3D) spongy graphene with high
surface area, uniform structure, chemical stability in
organic solvents, ability to sustain structural complete-
ness under high temperatures, and highly hydrophobic
and oleophilic surfaces are feasible candidates for adsorb-
ers. Graphene sponges have shown great improvement in
loading capability of oils and organic liquids, as well as
reusability, compared with existing adsorbents. We previ-
ously investigated the usage of spongy graphene as highly
efficient adsorbent for oil and toxic organic for the first
4 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents

time [20]. Graphene adsorbed up to 86 × its own weight.
We also enhanced the loading capability of spongy gra-
phene by one magnitude [21] and developed low-cost
carbon fiber-based adsorbents fabricated from cotton [22]
and waste paper [23]. Also, along with graphene, various
kinds of carbon nanomaterial-based adsorbents have been
widely used for the removal of organic contaminants and
heavy metal ions [24–28]. This field study area has shown
much development. A brief timeline of these adsorbents
is shown in Figure 1A. Adsorption capacity of various 3D
graphene and carbon-based materials were compared,
and the results are exhibited in Figure 1B.
Spongy graphene and other carbon-based adsorbents
have been investigated [24–39]. The present adsorbents

Figure 1: (A) Brief timeline in the development of graphene and carbon-based materials as adsorbents. (B) Comparison of adsorption
capacities of various adsorbents. Estimated cost of these adsorbents was based on cost and availability of precursors, fabrication process,
thermal treatment of materials, convenience, and applicability of materials and recyclability of materials. Reproduced with permission:
(A), Refs. [20–23, 29, 30]. Copyright: (A) 2012 Wiley, 2013 Wiley, 2013 Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014 Wiley, and 2015 American Chemical
Society.

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 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents 5

can be obtained through different procedures, includ- including self-assembly interactions of graphene oxide
ing the direct gelling of high aspect ratio materials such (GO) during reduction, direct drying solution, CVD,
as direct gelling of high-aspect ratio materials (e.g. gra- surface coating on scaffold skeleton, and expansion of
phene and CNTs) [20, 21, 25, 27, 30], pyrolysis of natural compact GO films. The following subsections will provide
fibers or artificial products (e.g. cotton [22], waste paper a deeper discussion on these methods.
[23], even plants [38, 39]), and chemical vapor deposi-
tion (CVD) [34–36]. These techniques are used to syn-
thesize hydrophobic and low-density porous structures.
2.1.1 Self-assembly by GO reduction
However, each method employs distinct starting materi-
als, temperatures, and additives according to the aimed
GO is currently the most common and important precur-
products. Bottom-up growth of nanomaterials, such as
sor to prepare graphene materials. Graphene could be
graphene and CNTs, could offer a fundamentally differ-
controlled to form superhydrophobic material [42]. This
ent procedure to achieve a macroscale 3D architecture
material can be produced into porous sponge-like cylin-
with strictly defined porous sponge structures. Top-down
der by a special drying process in which strong interac-
procedure, however, fully utilizes an existing porous scaf-
tions of GO sheets in water play a significant role [43]. The
fold. Hydrophobic properties of existing scaffolds can
change in hydrophilicity during GO reduction allows for
be enhanced by thermal treatments for carbonization or
increased strength and control of pore size. Moreover, the
surface coating by hydrophobic materials. Significant
interactions among GO sheets are strong enough to allow
development, wide potential application, and numerous
solutions to directly freeze to produce ultralight sponges.
variations in spongy graphene and other carbon-based
Furthermore, some challenges and process variability also
adsorbents show the benefits, potential applications, and
requires more development to achieve optimal and con-
drawbacks of these materials. This paper aims to review
sistent results.
the continued developments and challenges in fabricating
GO can be prepared by the intercalation and oxida-
adsorbents in a broad perspective. We also emphasized the
tion of graphite powder usually by modified Hummer’s
fundamental understanding of the synthesis and charac-
method [44] in which the key components are sulfuric
terization of graphene and other carbon-based materials.
acid and potassium permanganate [45, 46]. Thus, func-
Future outlook and application areas of high-performance
tionalities consisting primarily of epoxide and hydroxyl
sponges in recent publications are also discussed.
groups could be formed, and these groups are highly
hydrophilic and form strong hydrogen bonds with water
[47]. Furthermore, intercalation with water can cause
2 Graphene-based adsorbents lattice expansion, increasing the distance between graph-
ite planes from 0.335 nm to 0.6–1.2 nm [48]. Van der Waal’s
Graphene, which is one of the advanced carbon nanoma- binding forces are easily overcome after strong mixing or
terials, is a two-dimensional (2D) single sheet of carbon sonication, forming thin mono- or few-layered GO materi-
atoms arranged in a hexagonal network. Pristine gra- als [49, 50]. The synthesis process is schematically shown
phene sheets achieved by mechanical exfoliation [40] in Figure 2.
exhibit outstanding properties, such as high surface areas
(2630 m2 g-1), high thermal conductivity (5300 W mK-1),
high Young’s modulus (1 TPa), strong chemical durabil-
ity, and high electron mobility (2.5 × 105 cm2 V-1 s-1) [41].
However, this kind of graphene is not suitable for applica-
tions that require large quantities of graphene. Such kind
of graphene is economically inefficient, especially, when
used as adsorbents. Thus, several low-cost mass produc-
Figure 2: Chemical route for synthesizing aqueous graphene
tion methods have been developed.
dispersions. 1. Oxidation of graphite to graphite oxide with greater
interlayer distance. 2. Exfoliation of graphite oxide in water by
sonication to obtain graphene oxide (GO) colloids stabilized by
2.1 Synthesis of graphene-based adsorbents electrostatic repulsion. 3. Controlled conversion of GO colloids to
conducting graphene colloids through deoxygenation by hydrazine
Graphene-based adsorbents with ordered 3D networks reduction. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [50]. Copyright:
can generally be obtained through different procedures, 2008 Nature Publishing Group.

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6 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents

The 3D graphene sponges could be generated by uti-
lizing water-soluble properties of GO to produce high-
concentration solutions and gels [51]. GO sheets can
easily be dispersed uniformly in water because of their
strong hydrophilicity and electrostatic repulsion effects
[52]. ­Carboxylic acid groups attached to GO sheets could
ionize, resulting in carboxylic ions containing negative
charges. Some carboxylic groups are removed as the reac-
tion progresses, for example, reaction for tens of minutes,
thereby decreasing the charges of some GO sheets. In addi-
tion, GO sheets without any charge tend to be attracted to
those with charges to form large sheets. The basal plane of
GO is eventually shifted from a hydrophilic state to a more
hydrophobic regime. Hydrogen bonding with water is
weakened, and van der Waal’s attraction between planes
is increased, creating some sticky graphene sheets. Sheets
in the solution can begin to self-assemble if undisturbed,
as schematically demonstrated by Bi et al. [53] in Figure 3.
However, at sufficiently high concentration, attractive
forces between sheets and mutual restriction of mobility
could result in assemblage of reduced graphene materi-
als into a porous hydrogel, molded in the shape of the
containment vessel [54]. Further reduction of graphene
materials as the C/O ratio of the network increases leads

Figure 3: (A) Hydrothermal reduction process. The porous hydrogel is molded with the shape of the containment vessel. (B) Agglomeration
with the addition of different quantities of ammonia. Graphene hydrogels with varied surface morphology were synthesized based on the
amount of ammonia. Agglomeration of a relatively loose graphene hydrogel is demonstrated by the black arrows. Most GO sheets without
charge were first attracted to minor GO sheets with negative charges and became large sheets. The large GO sheets finally lost charges and
agglomerated easily because of the removal of carboxyl groups. Agglomeration of a relatively compact graphene hydrogel is indicated by
green arrows. The carboxyl groups ionize into COO-, which reduced the partial agglomeration of the initial minor GO sheets. The GO sheets
became hydrophobic, and COO- groups were removed gradually, resulting in the compact uniform agglomeration of GO sheets. Reproduced
with permission from Ref. [53]. Copyright: 2012 Wiley.

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 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents
to stronger van der Waal’s forces as well as more rigid
and denser self-assembled rGO hydrogel [55]. In addition,
reduction can also be performed by adding crosslinking
agents or more environment-friendly reducing agents. The
reduction process can be further supplemented with high-
temperature annealing. After assembly, the structure is
dried to prepare sponges. Two techniques, namely, freeze
drying and critical point drying, are usually adopted to
avoid the restacking process during dried ambient condi-
tion. Both techniques limit stress on the pore structure by
replacing the liquid with gas for sponge formation, thus,
avoiding restacking and resulting in high-surface area
macroscale sponge. Freeze drying normally limits the cap-
illary stress by overcoming the water’s triple point bound-
ary. This phenomenon lowers the temperature of water
and then transforms it directly from solid to gas phase via
low pressure.
2.1.2 Direct freeze drying
The high solubility and hydrophilic edges of the formed
GO facilitates its good dispersion at high concentrations.
The ungelated solution, which exhibits sufficiently strong
bonding interactions, can be directly freeze dried to form
GO sponges by controlling its concentration between 1
and 15 mg ml-1 [55, 56]. Figure 4A schematically illustrates
graphene sponge formation during rapid solution freez-
ing. This process caused internal expansion and macro-
scale cracking of the freeze-dried solution, and pore size
was controlled by changing the freezing temperature [57].
This phenomenon resulted in a graphene sponge block
(Figure 4B). Figure 4C–G shows the scanning electron
micrographs of the porous structures of four graphene
sponges fabricated at different freezing temperatures of
-170°C, -40°C, -20°C, and -10°C. Qualitative schematic of
the relationship between nucleation and crystal growth
as a function of freezing temperature during ice solidi-
fication is shown in Figure 4H. Nucleation dominates
the process at low temperatures, contrary to the favored
crystal growth at high temperatures. The size of ice crys-
tals is not drawn proportionally to that of a graphene
sponge. Ice crystals are demonstrated artificially in the
background, the factual scanning electron micrographs
of microstructures. Improving the quality and strength
of GO networks is important in the production of repeat-
able, scalable sponges. GO sponges were reduced to rGO
sponges to change the hydrophilicity of the GO into the
desired graphene hydrophobic properties to fulfill the
demands as adsorbents. However, using chemical reduc-
tion in solution with a reducing agent, such as sodium
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7
borohydride, hydrazine, ascorbic acid, and HI is diffi-
cult [47, 48, 58–61] because reintroducing GO sponges to
high humidity and water moisture could cause the rapid
collapse of the sponge. Instead, the GO sponges can be
reduced at relative high temperatures (600–1000°C) in a
dry environment with inert gas atmosphere or at lower
temperatures with a strong reducing vapor, such as hydra-
zine vapor, to form an rGO sponge [62–64]. The tempera-
ture ramp rate in this thermal reduction process should
not be too high. Otherwise, the sponge would suffer
thermal shock, rapidly releasing gas and disrupting the
integrity of the sponge structure [56].
2.1.3 CVD
CVD can be used to produce a monolayer or few layers
of graphene with very high electoral conductivities com-
parable to that of pristine mechanically exfoliated gra-
phene on a small scale [65]. Three main components
are required in this growth process: a metal catalyst,
a carbon precursor, and high temperature at approxi-
mately around 1000°C within a controlled atmosphere.
Catalysts, such as Ni templates (Ni foams), generally play
an important role in deriving large quantities of graphene
material to synthesize 3D CVD graphene (CVD-G). The
limited surface area of nickel foils traditionally prevents
the extension of CVD-G to a large scale or to a 3D structure.
Rapid development in this area seems to be represented
by the work of Cheng et al. in 2011 [66]. An Ni sponge was
prepared for graphene growth, and the possible surface
oxide layer on the Ni sponge was removed by annealing
for a short period at 1000°C under a 700-sccm gas flow
composed of Ar:H2 at 2.5:1. A methane carbon source was
introduced at a constant rate varying between 2 sccm and
10 sccm during synthesis under high temperature. Rapid
convective cooling step of 100°C min-1 was applied after
5 min of carbon gas exposure (Figure 5A). The quality of
graphene formed was verified using Raman spectros-
copy, which showed no defect (D-Band) peak for the
CVD-G materials. The shape and position of the Raman
2D peak [67] also suggested a narrow thickness distribu-
tion around only a few layers. Graphene material was
obtained by etching away Ni via a hot 3-m HCl solution
after the growth of the graphene coating. A sacrificial
PMMA layer was added before etching to avoid collapse
of the graphene network. Thus, Ni/graphene sponge was
placed in a 4 wt% solution of PMMA (average molecular
weight, 1 million), and then a thin layer was formed by
baking at 180°C. After Ni was etched away, PMMA was
gradually removed by placing the CVD-G sponge in hot
8 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents

Figure 4: (A) Fabrication of enhanced spongy graphene. Components are intentionally not drawn into scale. (B) Macroscopic image of
enhanced spongy graphene. (C–F) Scanning electron micrographs of the porous structures of four graphene sponges fabricated at different
freezing temperatures of -170°C, -40°C, -20°C, and -10°C. Scale bar: 500 μm. (G) High-magnification scanning electron micrographs of pore
walls composed of graphene nanosheets corresponding to (C). Mean thickness of the pore walls is 10 nm. (H) Qualitative schematic of the
relationship between nucleation and crystal growth as a function of freezing temperature during ice solidification. Nucleation dominates
the process at low temperatures, contrary to the favored crystal growth at high temperatures. The size of ice crystals is not drawn propor-
tionally to that of a graphene sponge. Ice crystals are demonstrated artificially on the background, the factual scanning electron micro-
graphs of microstructures. Reproduced with permission: (A and B), Ref. [21]; (C–H), Ref. [57]. Copyright: (A and B) 2013 Royal Society of
Chemistry; (C–H) 2013 Nature Publishing Group.

acetone. The sample was then evaporated to yield a high-
surface area graphene monolith with large dimensions
(Figure 5B) and porous structure (Figure 5C). In addition
to using Ni as the catalyst, monolayer graphene coatings
were also produced using copper sponge. This sponge
had lower carbon saturation level and also exhibited
catalytic activity for growth of graphene materials. The
growth produced a similar result; however, the growth
mechanism for copper differs from that of Ni, and the
collapse of the CVD-G sponges was not prevented when
Cu supports were used. In addition, similar high-quality
CVD-G sponges were achieved by others using ethanol
as carbon source or with minor variations in flow and
temperature [68–70].

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 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents
Figure 5: (A) Synthesis of a GF and integration with PDMS. (1, 2)
CVD growth of graphene films (Ni-G, 2) using a nickel foam (Ni foam,
1) as the 3D scaffold template. (3) As-grown graphene film after
coating a thin PMMA supporting layer (Ni-G-PMMA). (4) GF coated
with PMMA (GF-PMMA) after etching the Ni foam with hot HCl (or
FeCl3/HCl) solution. (5) Free-standing GF after dissolution of the
PMMA layer with acetone. (6) GF/PDMS composite after infiltration
of PDMS into a GF. All scale bars are 500 μm. (B) Photograph of a
170 × 220-mm2 free-standing GF. (C) Scanning electron micrograph
of a GF. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [66]. Copyright: 2011
Nature Publishing Group.
2.1.4 Surface coating
Surface coating provides a convenient way to control the
shape and pattern growth of graphene-based adsorbent.
The resultant graphene materials exhibit excellent struc-
tural integrity and reliable long-term order. The sacrificial
template is used as the catalyst layer or supporting skel-
eton for graphene and GO. Liu et al. [71] reported graphene
sponges produced using polyurethane (PU) sponge as
support. Graphene sheets along with Fe3O4 nanoparticles
are decorated on the PU sponge through self-assembly.
The well-defined amorphous PU skeleton is covered by a
thin layer of graphene and Fe3O4 nanoparticles.
2.1.5 Other synthesis techniques
Tightly stacked layers in GO films have been used to fab-
ricate free-standing graphene sponges. Thermal shock
application on GO films could lead to mixed results,
achieving well-expanded GO films. This method is still
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9
not commonly used to fabricate sorbents. However, Niu
et al. [63] investigated the controlled leavening of tightly
packed free-standing graphite oxide films using small
quantities of hydrazine. They produced flexible 3D rGO
papers with surprising mechanical integrity (Figure 6),
which still exhibited good oil capacity.
2.2 Adsorption behavior
Several graphene sponges have been demonstrated as
adsorbers for various oils, alkanes, water soluble alco-
hols, and organic solvents, with exceptional performance
[29, 35, 72, 73]. Among these researches, we believe that
we reported the first utilization of graphene sponge as
adsorbent for oils and organic solvents [20]. We used
180°C autoclaved reduction to induce self-assembly and
create a graphene sponge with 430 m2 g-1 surface area.
This graphene sponge adsorbed many times its own
weight (from 20 to 86 times). The graphene sponge with
enhanced performance and utility was prepared by direct
freeze drying of solutions containing giant GO sheets.
In this experiment, GO sheets in the sponge created a
high level of elasticity after thermal reduction. Further-
more, the sponge was highly hydrophobic, which had
an ultralow density of ~0.9 mg cm-3. The fabricated gra-
phene sponge had enhanced adsorption capacity by one
magnitude compared with the previous one. The com-
bination of these features allowed the tested ultralight
sponge to reach an adsorption capacity of 110–616.4 g g-1,
depending on liquid density. Photographs illustrating oil
adsorption and characterization of a graphene sponge
block, as well as the enhanced graphene spongy block,
are presented in Figure 7A. A sharp increase in oil capac-
ity of graphene sponge is shown in Figure 7B. Compared
with conventional adsorbents, the adsorption capability
of this sponge exhibited a great advantage. Addition-
ally, heat treatment was easily applied to vaporize sol-
vents because of the recyclability of graphene-based
adsorbers caused by the thermal stability exhibited by
graphene sponges (Figure 7C). This process allows the
user to reuse the sponge materials (up to 99% capacity
remaining after at least 10 cycles) (Figure 7D) and restore
the adsorbed solvent condensate (99.9% restored for
future use). Graphene sponge had strong potential to
become efficient and safe adsorbers for remediation of
organic media in environmental protection and indus-
trial processes. Moreover, other groups have reported
similar investigations on graphene sponge adsorbents.
Zhao et al. [54] reported a 400-m2 g-1 graphene sponge
prepared by a similar thermal reduction process but with
10 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents

Figure 6: (A) Leavening process to prepare rGO foams. (B) Digital photograph of the free-standing paper-like rGO foam. (C) High magnifi-
cation of the cross-sectional scanning electron micrograph of rGO foams formed after 10 h in an autoclave at 90°C with 80 μl of hydrazine
monohydrate. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [63]. Copyright: 2012 Wiley.

the mixing of thiourea to functionalize and crosslink the
material. Moreover, this graphene sponge even reached
high adsorption capacities between 75 g g-1 and 154 g g-1.
Dong et al. [35] utilized the CVD-G sponge to achieve
48.5–71 g g-1. Coating macroporous sponges with a dense
forest of CNTs conferred superhydrophobicity (contact
angle ~152°) on these sponges because of the increased
surface roughness, boosting adsorption capacity to
80–130 g g-1 [34]. Sun et al. [29] presented a remarkable
high-performance graphene-CNT sponge prepared by a
similar direct freeze drying of GO sheets and CNT solu-
tions. An adsorption capacity as high as 215–743 g g-1 was
reached.
In addition to the enhancement of oil capacity,
another direction for graphene sponge synthesis is func-
tionalization by doping. Some metal ions, such as Co2+
and Ni2+, can act as cross-linkers for assembling GO into
3D porous gels [71], which enhances the elasticity of GO
spongy. Moreover, this Fe3O4/graphene aerogel (Fe3O4/GA)
can exhibit up to 52% reversible magnetic field-induced
strain and strain-dependent electrical resistance because
of its magnetic particles, such as Fe3O4 nanoparticles
[30]. This material can be used to monitor the degree of
compression/stretching of the material, which will facili-
tate the development of smart control for the adsorption/
desorption of oil (Figure 7E and F). Other groups have
reported adsorbents based on graphene. Table 1 gives a
brief summary of the comparison of reported graphene-
based adsorbents.
3 CNT-based adsorbents
CNT-based materials are promising candidates for envi-
ronmental applications, such as sorption, filtration, and
separation, because of their light-weight, high poros-
ity, and large surface area [82–84]. CNTs are considered
superior adsorbents over various organic chemicals and
inorganic contaminants with many advantages, such as
stronger chemical-nanotube interactions, rapid equilib-
rium rates, high sorbent capacity, and tailored surface

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 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents 11

Figure 7: (A) Upper: Oil adsorption and characterization of an SG block adsorbing dodecane (stained with Sudan red 5B) at intervals of 40 s.
Bottom: Oil adsorption and characterization of an enhanced SG block adsorbing crude oil at intervals of approximately 10 s. (B) Adsorption
capacity comparison between SG and enhanced SG. Almost a magnitude enhancement was achieved using enhanced SG. (C) Four-step
schematic diagram of SG recycling process. SG was regenerated and reused without affecting its performance when heated up to the tem-
perature around the boiling point of adsorbate. The liquid could be evaporated, condensed, and recollected elsewhere. The SG material was
ready to be used in the next cycle of adsorption without further process after simple heat treatment. (D) Recyclability of SG. (A) An SG repeti-
tively adsorbed toluene and released its vapor under heat treatment (105°C) for 10 cycles. The weight of SG in each cycle was measured
before (black line) and after (red dotted line; subtracted by the dormant weight of SG) heat treatment. Adsorbed mass of toluene ranged
from 723 mg to 739 mg, and the SG weighed 13.7 mg. (B) Dodecane recycling (200°C). Conditions were similar to those described in (A).
Adsorbed mass of dodecane ranged from 246 mg to 264 mg, and the SG weighed 5.2 mg. (E) Diagram of the experimental setup for the mag-
netic actuation testing. (F) Remote control of Fe3O4/GA for oil adsorption and recycling: Fe3O4/GA was guided by a magnet to move to adsorb
oil. After saturation, oil was released from Fe3O4/GA by magnetic field-induced compression. The regenerated aerogels still m ­ aintained their
original shapes. Reproduced with permission: (A, C, and D), Ref. [20]; (A and B), Ref. [21]; (E and F), Ref. [30]. Copyright:
(A, C, and D) 2012 Wiley; (A and B) Royal Society of Chemistry 2014; (E and F) American Chemistry Society 2015.

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12 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents

Table 1: Summary of graphene sponge adsorbents.

Synthesis method Absorbents/absorption capability (g g-1) Desorption method/recycling times References

Self-assembly SG/20–86 Heating/10 [20]

HGAs/21–77 Heating/8 [74]
ss-GF/40–198 pH change/10 [75]
F-rGO aerogel/34–112 Heating/10 [76]
GHs/30–40 NA [34]
Direct drying E-SG/110–610 NA [21]
UFAs/215–743 Heating/10 [29]
rGO foams/98–122 NA [77]
XPAA/rGO Aerogels/110–140 NA [78]
GA/100–260 Heating/10 [79]
CVD G-CNT foam/48.5–71 Heating/6 [35]
Surface coating Mesoporous G/8–66 Heating/10 [80]
MPG/9–27 Squeeze/8 [71]
Thermal expansion rGO foam/8–46 Heating/10 [81]

GS, Graphene sponge; HGA, hierarchical porous graphene aerogels; ss-GF, smart graphene foam; F-rGO aerogels, functional rGO aerogels;
GHs, graphene-based hydrogels; E-GS, enhanced graphene sponge; UFA, ultra flyweight aerogel; GA, graphene aerogels; G-CNT foam,
graphene CNT hybrid foam; mesoporous G, mesoporous graphene.

chemistry. The synthesis method and adsorption behav- during the entire process. Therefore, sponge production is
iors are as follows. scalable. Each microscale CNT makes a continuous skel-
eton with a high aspect ratio.

3.1 Synthesis of CNT-based adsorbents

Similar to graphene, CNT is also a feasible building block
to synthesize porous, light-weight, and hydrophobic 3D
structure. CVD techniques are recently used to prepare 3D
structures composed of free-standing films of vertically
aligned CNTs [85, 86]. However, high cost is an obstacle for
adsorption development. Chemical techniques, such as
aqueous self-assembly [87] and surface modification [88]
were developed. These methods could utilize the proper-
ties of CNT.
3.1.1 CVD
A macroscopic, monolithic sponge can be synthesized by
CVD. Gui et al. [36] used a precursor solution of ferrocene in
dichlorobenzene, which was injected at 860°C for 4 h. The
sponge consisted of CNTs self-assembled into a porous,
interconnected, 3D framework (Figure 8A). A transmission
electron micrograph of large-cavity thin-walled CNTs is
shown in Figure 8B. An illustration of a sponge consisting
of CNT piles (black lines) as the skeleton and open pores
(void space) is exhibited in Figure 8C. During reaction,
many catalyst particles were encapsulated inside the tube
cavities, which might have conferred the ferromagnetic
properties [89]. Growth rate along the thickness direc-
tion was approximately 2–3 mm h-1 and did not slow down
3.1.2 Self-assembly
Functionalization of CNTs can result in the formation
of free-standing CNT aerogels. CNTs, functionalized by
ferrocene-grafted poly(p-phenyleneethynylene), can
gelate common organic solvents, such as chloroform, to
form robust 3D nanotube networks that cannot be redis-
persed in any organic solvent [90]. Thermally annealed
CNT aerogels were mechanically stable and stiff, as
well as highly porous (99%). These aerogels exhibited
excellent electrical conductivity (1–2 S cm-1) and large
specific surface area (590–680 m2 g-1) [91]. The result-
ing hydrogels exhibited an intriguing one-dimensional
alignment of single-wall CNTs (SWCNT) on the surface
of the gel nanofibers. This characteristic enhanced the
elastic properties and thermal stability, as well as pro-
vided an interesting electrical conductivity of 3.1 S cm-1
to the resulting hydrogels. Meanwhile, the presence of
functional groups on CNTs that remained available after
gelation allowed the conjugation of the properties of gels
and nanostructured carbon materials [92]. Thus, organo-
gelators have multiple advantages considering that, in
addition to the induction of gelation and conferring of
additional properties to the resulting gels, functionaliza-
tion helps CNT dispersion at the solution stage. Hence,
homogeneous distribution of CNT throughout the result-
ing gel was achieved.

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 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents 13

Figure 8: (A) Monolithic CNT sponge (4 cm × 3 cm × 0.8 cm) with bulk density of 7.5 mg cm-3. (B) Transmission electron micrograph of large-
cavity, thin-walled CNTs. (C) Illustration of the sponge consisting of CNT piles (black lines) as the skeleton and open pores (void space).
Reproduced with permission from Ref. [36]. Copyright: 2010 Wiley.

3.1.3 Surface coating
Petrov et al. reported on ice-mediated deposition of
individual CNTs onto the inner surface of a preformed
macroporous polymer cryogel [93]. The method is quite
promising economically because it provided aerogels
with a minimum amount of SWCNT (0.12–0.15 wt% with
respect to the polymer), which exhibited high electrical
conductivity of 1 S cm-1. Moreover, any preformed aerogel
(regardless of chemical nature and morphology) could
eventually be suitable for CNT surface modification con-
sidering that the process only based on freezing, and
freeze drying does not require any particular property
from the substrate. Moreover, surface coating treatments
with multi-wall CNT (MWCNTs) can be applied to 3D colla-
gen scaffolds, and the resulting materials can be used for
bone tissue engineering [94]. The versatility in the type
of substrate that can be used is not simple because CNT
incorporation as surface modifiers, rather than embed-
ded within the polymer matrix, may help preserve the
intrinsic properties of the original aerogel also enhanced
by coated CNTs. Moreover, Wang et al. [88] used CNTs
to fabricate a reinforced superhydrophobic and supero-
leophilic polyurethane (PU) sponge for oil-water separa-
tion (Figure 9A). Digital ­photographs showed the surface
difference between the pristine PU sponge and PU-CNT
sponge (Figure 9B and C).
3.2 Adsorption behavior
CNTs are low-surface energy materials similar to gra-
phene. These materials could be synthesized into hydro-
phobic aerogels [36] using tailoring alignment, density,
and porosity. Thus, CNTs can be applied as sorbents. Gui
et al. [36] reported the utilization of CNT aerogels as sor-
bents for oils and organic solvents in 2010. Monolithic
CNT aerogels with adjustable density ranging from 5 to
10 mg cm-3, surface area of 300–400 m2 g-1, and average
pore size of approximately 80 nm could be fabricated by
CVD. This sponge exhibited adsorption capability of 80 ×
to 180 × their own weight for various solvents and oils. The
adsorption behavior is shown in Figure 10A. However, the
adsorption capability of CNT aerogels was not as high as
that of graphene sponge because of the denser structure
of the CNT aerogels. Sorbents should have a lower density
to increase adsorption capability. The prepared CNT aero-
gels exhibited some interesting properties, and the char-
acteristics of CNTs could be modified by doping through
synthesis. Hashim et al. [89] presented a feasible means to
enhance the elastic properties of CNT aerogels by adopt-
ing a boron-doping strategy during CVD. This strategy
would influence the formation of atomic-scale “elbow”
junctions and nanotube covalent interconnections, result-
ing in ultralight weight, superhydrophobic (contact angle
of ~150°), highly porous, and thermally stable material.
This kind of CNT aerogel adsorbent can adsorb up to 180 ×
its own weight. Interestingly, boron-doping CNT aerogels
possessed a combination of physical properties that will
impact the practical use of CNT for this application. The
as-prepared CNT aerogels exhibited ferromagnetic prop-
erties because of the iron catalyst particles used in the
growth process, which remained trapped in the CNT core.
This trait offers a controllable and safe way for handling
and recovering all CNT aerogel sorbents through magnetic
fields (Figure 10B). Recycling of magnetic CNT sponges for
spilled oil sorption is schematically shown in Figure 10C.
Other groups have also reported graphene-based adsor-
bents, in particular, CNT adsorbents. Table 2 provides a
brief summary of these studies.

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14 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents

Figure 9: (A) Fabrication process of superhydrophobic and superoleophilic PU-CNT sponge. (B) Digital photographs of water and lubricat-
ing oil droplets on the pristine PU sponge. (C) Digital photograph of water and lubricating oil droplets on PU-CNT sponge. Reproduced with
permission from Ref. [88]. Copyright: 2013 Royal Society of Chemistry.

4 Carbon fiber aerogels 4.1 P

Resorcinol-formaldehyde organic aerogels were tradition-
ally pyrolyzed in an inert atmosphere to form a highly
cross-linked carbon structure to fabricate carbon aerogels
[96, 97]. However, carbon aerogels are highly dense (100–
800 mg cm-3) [98] and tend to break under compression.
Meanwhile, CNTs and graphene can be employed as build-
ing blocks and assembled into macroscopic 3D architec-
tures [99–102]. Both CNT aerogels and graphene sponges
exhibited high adsorption capacity and outstanding
recyclability. However, they also have some limitations.
Preparation of CNT-based sponges requires expensive
precursors and complex equipment, which hamper their
massive production for practical applications [36, 86].
Moreover, the use of large amounts of chemicals and
generation of acidic waste during GO preparation seri-
ously restrict their current industrialization. Therefore, a
facile, economic, and environmentally friendly method to
produce carbon-based nanostructured aerogels should be
explored.
 yrolysis synthesis of carbon fiber
aerogels
Natural porous materials and some fibers are usually used
in spill events because they are easily accessible. However,
natural adsorbents are often hydrophilic, which will
hinder the oil adsorption ability. A feasible means to over-
come this obstacle is to pyrolyze these adsorbents at high
temperature to transform the natural fibers from hydro-
philic to hydrophobic. Wu et al. [103] reported carbon
fiber aerogels using bacterial cellulose (BC) as precur-
sor. The dried BC aerogels were pyrolyzed at 700–1300°C
under argon atmosphere to generate black and ultra-
light carbon fiber aerogels. After pyrolysis, the volume
of obtained carbon fiber aerogel was only 15% of that of
the original BC aerogel. Meanwhile, the density decreased
from 9 to 10 mg cm-3 for BC aerogels to 4–6 mg cm-3 for
carbon fiber aerogels because of the evaporation of vola-
tile species. The macroscopic sizes of the as-synthesized
carbon fiber aerogels were dependent on the sizes of the
BC pellicles cut in the fabrication procedure. However, the

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 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents 15

Figure 10: (A) Adsorption process of toluene (stained with Sudan Black B) on water by CNT aerogel block within 5 s. (B) Left, boron-doped
CNT aerogels burnt or squeezed (inset) to salvage the oil. Thus, CNT can be reused repetitively. Right, a magnet was used to track or move
the oil; inset shows sponge after burning and before reuse. (C) Schematic of recycling Me-CNT sponges for spilled oil sorption. (I) sprinkled
on the oil; (II) adsorbed spilled oil; (III) collected by magnet; (IV) regeneration; and (V) reuse. Reproduced with permission: (A), Ref. [36];
(B), Ref. [89]; and (C), Ref. [95]. Copyright: (A) 2010 Wiley; (B) 2012 Nature Publishing Group; and (C) 2013 American Chemistry Society.

Table 2: Summary of CNT sorbents.

Synthesis method Absorbents/adsorption capability (g g-1) Desorption method/recycling times References

CVD CNT sponge/80–180 Burning or squeeze/10 [36]

B-CNT sponge/24–130 NA [89]
Me-CNT sponge/30–66 Heating/1000 [95]
Self-assembly P-CNT aerogels/3.98–12 Heating/10 [87]
Surface coating PU-CNT sponge/22–35 Squeeze/150 [88]

B-CNT sponge, Boron doped CNT sponge; Me-CNT sponge, magnetic carbon nanotube sponges; ss-GF, smart graphene foam;
P-CNT aerogels, p-phenylenediamine modified carbon nanotubes aerogels; PU-CNT sponge, CNT reinforced PU sponge.

production of these aerogels is still complex and expen-
sive, thus, restricting their industrial applications. Cheap
and widely available materials such as raw cotton, which
is a typical natural material and sustainable and contains
90–95% cellulose, [104, 105] are promising raw materials
for fabricating carbon-based aerogels. Raw cotton fibers
have been used for sorption of dyes [106] and heavy metal
ions [107]. However, their poor buoyancy characteristics,
low oil-sorption capacity, unsatisfactory hydrophobicity,
and recyclability, among others, hamper their application

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16 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents

in the removal and separation of pollutants from water.
A simple method was, therefore, adopted to pyrolyze raw
cotton to generate black and light-weight twisted carbon
fiber (TCF) aerogels to change hydrophilic raw cotton into
hydrophobic TCF aerogels. This procedure requires a rela-
tively high temperature. Few pieces of purified raw cotton
with cylindrical shape were pyrolyzed at 800°C for 2 h at
low pressure (~0.5 mbar) under argon atmosphere to gen-
erate black and lightweight TCF aerogels. After pyrolysis,
the diameter of the cylindrical cotton decreased from 3 cm
to 1.5 cm, and the height decreased from 1.5 cm to 0.9 cm.
The volume of the TCF aerogel was, thus, only ~15% of
that of raw cotton. The TCF aerogel has a low density of
~12 mg cm-3, which was measured by Archimedes’ princi-
ple. Photographs before and after pyrolysis are shown in
Figure 11A and B. Structural integrity was still good, which
could be observed in the scanning electron micrographs
in Figure 11C and D.
4.2 Adsorption behavior
Carbon fiber aerogel is an ideal candidate for the removal
of pollutants, such as oils and organic solvents, because
of their 3D porous structure, good mechanical property,
and surface hydrophobicity. Strong sorption capabil-
ity of TCF aerogel is demonstrated in Figure 12A and B.
When the TCF aerogel was brought into contact with a
heptane layer (stained with Sudan red 5B) on a water
surface, the aerogel adsorbed the heptane completely
and rapidly. The TCF aerogel floated on the water surface
after sorption of the heptane because of its low density

Figure 11: (A) Photographs of raw cotton (left) before and (right) after a glass bottle with weight of 15.3 g was placed top of the cotton.
(B) Photographs of a piece of TCF aerogel (left) before and (right) after a glass bottle with weight of 15.3 g was placed on top of the bottle.
(C) Scanning electron micrograph of the cellulose fibers in raw cotton. Inset: photograph of a piece of raw cotton. (D) Scanning electron
micrograph of the carbon fibers in TCF aerogel. Inset: photograph of a piece of TCF aerogel. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [22].
Copyright: 2013 Wiley.

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 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents 17

Figure 12: Adsorption of organic liquids by TCF aerogel. Heptane (A) and chloroform (B) were stained with Sudan red 5B. These photo-
graphs show the sorption process using a TCF aerogel taken at intervals of 10 s. Recycling process of TCF aerogel via (C) combustion and
(D) squeezing. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [22]. Copyright: 2013 Wiley.

and hydrophobicity. This phenomenon indicates the
potential use of the TCF aerogel for the facile removal
of oil spillage and chemical leakage as well as for ease
of recycling. In addition, the TCF aerogel can also be
used to quickly adsorb chloroform, which was stained
with Sudan red 5B at the bottom of water. Moreover,
this aerogel also exhibits excellent recyclability and
maintains high sorption capacity even after five cycles
through distillation, burning (Figure 12C), or squeezing
(Figure 12D).
Based on the use of natural cellulose, Li et al. [38]
synthesized carbon fiber from wintermelon, which is a
typical vegetable. Wintermelon carbon aerogel achieved
16 × to 50 × weight gain depending on the densities of dif-
ferent oils and organic solvents. After the adsorption of
the oils, desorption could be performed by simply heating
to release the vapor of the adsorbers. Yang et al. [39]
proved that bamboo could be a possible carbon source
for carbon fiber fabrication. Bamboo could be synthesized
into carbon fiber aerogels by adopting freeze drying
combined with pyrolysis. Thus, an adsorption capability
ranging from 30 × to 129 × its own weight was shown by
bamboo. Another possible carbon source could be artifi-
cial materials full of cellulose, such as waste paper. This
source is highly beneficial for the environment because
waste paper, itself, as a main constituent of the munici-
pal waste, has resulted in many environmental prob-
lems. Therefore, our group [23] has reported a simple and
cost-effective method to fabricate a novel kind of carbon
microbelt (CMB) aerogel with good selective sorption
ability using waste paper as its precursor material. First,
the waste paper was soaked in distilled water for 12 h
through strong agitation under vigorous stirring, break-
ing down the cellulose in the paper. Then, the resulting
products were freeze dried to synthesize fiber aerogel.
Afterward, the products were pyrolyzed at 850°C for 2 h at
low pressure (~0.5 mbar) under argon atmosphere to gen-
erate black and lightweight CMB aerogel. The as-prepared

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18 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents

Table 3: Summary of carbon fiber aerogel sorbents.

Synthesis method Absorbents/adsorption capability (g g-1) Desorption method/recycling times References

Pyrolysis WCA/16–50 Heating/6 [39]

UFC foams/68–160 Heating, burning or squeezing/5 [108]
CNF aerogels/106–312 Heating or burning/5 [103]
CMB aerogels/60–188 Heating, burning or squeezing/5 [23]
MCF aerogels/30–129 Heating, burning or squeezing [38]
TCF aerogel/50–192 Heating, burning or squeezing/5 [22]

WCA, Water melon carbon aerogels; UFC foam, ultralight, fire-resistant, and compressible foam; CNF aerogels, carbon nanofiber aerogels;
CMB aerogels, carbon microbelt aerogels; TCF aerogels, twisted carbon fiber aerogels.

CMB aerogel exhibited highly efficient adsorption of both growth of composite materials. The properties and per-
oils (up to 188 × its own weight) and organic solvents such formance of the formed graphene/GO sponges strongly
as chloroform (up to 151 × its own weight). Moreover, the depend on the quality and size of the GO precursor and
adsorption capacity of the CMB aerogel did not decrease the type of reducing agents. Although direct freeze-drying
even after numerous regenerations by simply distilla- self-assembly is relatively simple, this process is heavily
tion, burning, or squeezing, which depends on the char- dependent on size and concentration, in which control-
acteristics of solvents. Waste paper is cheapest among all ling ice crystal formation and cracking on a larger scale is
reported sorbents. All these carbon fiber aerogels are com- a challenge. All reviewed methods require further devel-
pared in Table 3. opment to promote robust, scalable sponges at low cost
and with less restacking. As for the adsorption capacities,
it is obvious that the adsorbents fabricated by the surface
coating method generally possess the relative low oil
5 Conclusion and organic solvent adsorption capacities ranging from
several times to several tens of times its initial weight. But
Graphene and carbon-based sponges are 3D aerogel for the self-­assembled sponges/foams, the oil adsorption
networks with high surface area, high chemical/­ capacities are much larger than that of the surface-
­
electrochemical stability, and extremely high surface coating adsorbents, ranging from tens of times to hun-
hydrophobicity. Thus, these materials are used to demon- dreds of times the weight of original materials. What is
strate the feasibility for bridging the nanoscale properties more, direct drying carbon-based aerogels generally show
of carbon-based materials to practical macroscale applica- the largest oil adsorption capacities. The oil-adsorption
tions in oil and organic solvent spills. This paper provides capacities can commonly reach over 100 times the weight
a comprehensive review of the most recent progress in the of the initial materials, and the highest one could even
synthesis, characterization, fundamental understand- achieve 743 times [29]. The difference of adsorption rate
ing, and performance of all reported adsorbents and their among these adsorbents may ascribe to their difference
practical applications. This review is expected to facilitate in densities. For the surface-coating method, the polymer
further improvement and development of advanced mate- skeleton used is usually denser than the pristine carbon-
rial-based adsorbents. based aerogels. Graphene sheets and CNTs are typically
Several methods, such as CVD template growth of used to realize the superhydrophobic surface of polymer
graphene on Ni foam, direct gelling of GO solutions, self- skeleton. The ultralight graphene aerogels could be
assembly, surface modification, and pyrolysis, have been directly dried. For example, in Sun’s experiment [29], after
successfully developed to prepare high-quality and high- hydrazine vapor reduction, the GO sheets in the sponge
performance adsorbents. Among these methods, CVD could create a high level of elasticity. Further, based on
growth produced well-defined and large pore size struc- the direct drying method, this aerogel had an ultralow
tures with desirable properties. The quality of the mate- density (concentration controlled between 0.16 and
rial was primarily controlled by process variables during 22.4 mg cm-3). More importantly, the method allowed for
CVD growth. However, high temperature, sacrificial tem- the scalable preparation of large sponge blocks, an inte-
plate, and multistep processing entail high cost and limi- gral feature for the development of materials, is needed
tation for large-scale production. Self-assembly technique for large-scale spill cleanup. The combination of these
via reduction of GO is compatible with simultaneous features allowed the tested ultralight sponge (1000 cm3,

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 S. Wan et al.: Graphene and carbon-based nanomaterials as efficient adsorbents for oils and organic solvents
1.4 mg cm-3). The ultralight carbon-based aerogels are the
most suitable for oil removal in the view of oil adsorption
capacity. However, their preparation methods are usually
complicated and expensive when compared to those used
for other superhydrophobic sponges. However, pyrolysis
of natural fibers can be employed to fabricate low-cost
undesirable adsorbents.
The development of graphene and carbon-based
adsorbents not only focuses on the enhancement of
adsorption capacities and lowering cost but also on the
smart control of adsorption and desorption behaviors of
adsorbents. A combination with functional materials,
such as magnetic nanoparticles, is a possibility.
Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the
National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos.
61274114, 51420105003, and 113279028), the Natural
­Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (no. BK2012024),
and Scientific Research Foundation of Graduate School of
Southeast University (no. YBJJ1208 and YBPYB01).
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Hengchang Bi
SEU-FEI Nano-Pico Center, Key Laboratory of
MEMS of Ministry of Education, Collaborative
Innovation Center for Micro/Nano
Fabrication, Device and System, Southeast
University, Nanjing 210096, China; and
Center for Advanced Carbon Materials,
Southeast University and Jiangnan Graphene
Research Institute, Changzhou 213100,
China
Hengchang Bi is a PhD student in the School of Electronic Science
and Engineering at Southeast University. He obtained his BE degree
in 2007 from Shanxi University of Science and Technology, China.
His research interests mainly focus on applications of nanomateri-
als in environment, and 2D materials.
Litao Sun
SEU-FEI Nano-Pico Center, Key Laboratory of
MEMS of Ministry of Education, Collaborative
Innovation Center for Micro/Nano
Fabrication, Device and System, Southeast
University, Nanjing 210096, China,
and Center for Advanced Materials and
Manufacture, Joint Research Institute of
Southeast University and Monash University,
Suzhou 215123, China,
slt@seu.edu.cn
Litao Sun is currently a distinguished professor at Southeast
­University, China. His current research interests include in situ
experimentation inside the electron microscope, graphene, and
related 2D materials, new phenomena from sub-10 nm nanoparti-
cles/nanowires, and applications of nanomaterials in environment,

Bionotes renewable energy, and nanoelectromechanical systems.

Shu Wan
SEU-FEI Nano-Pico Center, Key Laboratory of
MEMS of Ministry of Education, Collaborative
Innovation Center for Micro/Nano
Fabrication, Device and System, Southeast
University, Nanjing 210096, China; and
Center for Advanced Carbon Materials,
Southeast University and Jiangnan Graphene
Research Institute, Changzhou 213100,
China

Shu Wan is a PhD student in the School of Electronic Science and

Engineering at Southeast University. He obtained his BE degree in
2011 from Southeast University, China. His research interests focus
mainly on applications of nanomaterials in environment, and 2D
materials devices.

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