Recycle and reusable melamine sponge coated by graphene for highly efficient oil-absorption

Graphene coated melamine sponges (GCMS) were fabricated by one step method. Graphene oxide (GO) was treated with mixtures of ammonia and ethanol (Am/Eth) with different proportions. The structures of GO and GCMS were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Am/Eth mixture has both dispersive and reductive effects on graphene oxide. The GCMS are hydrophobic and oleophilic and show extremely high absorption for oil liquids. The absorption capacities for gasoline and diesel oil were higher than 105 g g(-1). In addition, graphene-based sponges are demonstrated to have excellent recyclability. The absorption capacity of the GCMS even reach up to 95% after it was reused 10 times by squeezing. So the GCMS has great application potential in the field of oil spillage cleanup. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.