title: Autonomous Graphene Vessel for Suctioning and Storing Liquid Body of Spilled Oil.
abstract: Despite remarkable strides in science and technology, the strategy for spilled oil collection has remained almost the same since the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. The graphene vessel devised here can bring about an important yet basic change in the strategy for spilled oil collection. When it is placed on the oil-covered seawater, the graphene vessel selectively separates the oil, then collects and stores the collected oil in the vessel all by itself without any external power inputs. Capillarity and gravity work together to fill this proto-type graphene vessel with the spilled oil at a rate that is higher than 20,000 liters per square meter per hour (LMH) with oil purity better than 99.9%, and allow the vessel to withstand a water head of 0.5 m. The vessel also has a superb chemical stability and recyclability. An expanded oil contact area, considerably greater than the thickness of the oil layer, forms at the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) foam interface upon contact with the spilled oil. This expanded contact area does not change much even when the oil layer thins out. As a result, the high oil collection rate is maintained throughout the recovery of spilled oil.
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
authors.forename: Taewoo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
authors.forename: Geonhui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Kyun
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.|Institute of Chemical Process, Asian Institute for Energy, Environment &Sustainability (AIEES), Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
authors.forename: Youngbin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.|Institute of Chemical Process, Asian Institute for Energy, Environment &Sustainability (AIEES), Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jeyong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
authors.forename: Seung M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, INHA University, Incheon 22212, South Korea.
authors.forename: Tae June
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hong H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Hyup
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim