Ultralight, fire-resistant, lamellar nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels for highly efficient selective organic pollutant cleanup

Low-density aerogels have shown great potential as excellent oil–water separation materials in dealing with the growing problem of marine pollution, but they typically suffer from low oil adsorption capacity, complex process flow, expensive raw materials, and poor recyclability. In this paper, inexpensive industrial raw material melamine was introduced into the framework of graphene aerogels, which can be formed into gels (NGAs) in just one step. High-temperature carbonized nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels (N 0.5 CGAs-2) have the advantages of ultralow density, high porosity, repeatable compressibility, hydrophobicity, and excellent adsorption capacity. In addition, depending on the characteristics of the contaminants, N 0.5 CGAs-2 can be selected for different recycling methods and exhibits excellent reusability in cycling. It has a high application value for solving water pollution problems caused by oil spill accidents and chemical spills.