Design and Fabrication of Aerogel Composites for Oil Water Separation and Spilled Oil Cleaning

Abstract

Aerogel composites are multicomponent highly porous materials with air as the major dispersed phase. There are many kinds of aerogel composites including synthetic and natural aerogel composites. Aerogel composites have found wide applications in sorption, thermal insulation, vibration damping, and noise control. This mini review focuses on the aerogel composites with oil water separation function for spilled oil cleaning. The design and fabrication of various aerogel composites for oil cleaning are emphasized. The commonly used technologies including in-situ reaction, sol–gel spinning, templating, and self-assembling are introduced. The microstructure control through directional freeze casting, bio-inspired approach, coating, etc., are discussed.