To address marine oil spills, developing highly efficient recovery technologies for high-viscosity crude oil has become a research priority. This study employs processed, delignified lightweight wood (WA) as a substrate. Through in-situ polymerization of polypyrrole (PPy) and coating modification with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a composite aerogel (PDMS@PPy@WA) was successfully developed, exhibiting superhydrophobicity, rapid thermal responsiveness, and outstanding stability. This material fully preserves the three-dimensional porous framework of wood, exhibiting lightweight and highly permeable structural characteristics. It demonstrates a water contact angle as high as 159.30° and possesses rapid heating capabilities under both photothermal and electrothermal dual-drive conditions. Under 1-sun solar irradiance (1 kW/m2), the material surface temperature can rise to 82.4 °C within 2 min. When driven by a 6 V voltage, it can similarly reach 82.6 °C within 2 min via the Joule heating effect. Additionally, this aerogel exhibits outstanding mechanical and chemical stability, withstanding pressures equivalent to 3,780 times its own weight. It maintains stable performance after 72 h of immersion in strong acid or strong alkali environments. Based on green, renewable biomass feedstocks and employing a streamlined functionalization strategy, this work provides a sustainable material solution with application potential for efficient, all-weather crude oil recovery.

Thermochemical washing of oily sludge is a highly effective strategy for resource recovery. However, the lingering petroleum components within washed sludge still pose considerable environmental pollution risks. In this study, high-temperature bioaugmentation technology was used to promote the removal of petroleum components, and the potential of this technology in the deep treatment of washed oily sludge was investigated, specifically petroleum component degradation and microbial community regulation. The results showed that the petroleum degradation performance was greatly enhanced by the introduction of thermophilic bacteria combined with 200 mg/kg of biosurfactant (T2 group). Under these conditions, the petroleum and moisture contents were successfully reduced to 19.6 g/kg and 4%, respectively. In particular, the contents of n-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the T2 group decreased significantly to 1098.5 and 494.3 mg/kg, respectively, relative to the blank group (4428.5 and 850.7 mg/kg). High-throughput sequencing results indicated that exogenous thermophilic bacteria (Ureibacillus and Bacillus) could rapidly emerge as the dominant genera in the system. In addition, microbial association network and functional analyses revealed that high-temperature bioaugmentation shifted microbial interactions from competition to cooperation, as evidenced by increased positive correlation ratios and modularity values, as well as functional diversification from two modules in the blank group to four modules in the biofortified treatments, thereby enhancing synergistic degradation capabilities for hydrocarbons. This study provides a newly developed approach to oily sludge treatment that simultaneously achieves reduction and harmlessness.

To efficiently treat oily wastewater and remediate oil spills at low cost, this work prepares straw-derived carbon powder (SDCP) from agricultural corn straw waste via carbonization, ball milling, and alkali treatment. The SDCP is then coated onto a melamine sponge (MS) using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as an adhesive to form an SDCP@PDMS@MS composite sponge. The material achieves superhydrophobicity (water contact angle of 154.02 degrees) due to SDCP-enhanced surface roughness and PDMS's low surface energy. It exhibits excellent acidalkali resistance (stable for 6 days at pH 2 and 13), robust mechanical strength, and an oil-water separation efficiency of over 96% for various oils, maintaining stability after 10 cycles. Additionally, it features selfcleaning, flame-retardant properties, and efficient photothermal conversion. Under 1 kW/m2 illumination, its surface temperature reaches 77.3 degrees C within 180 s, boosting high-viscosity crude oil recovery to 87.44%. This work realizes the high-value utilization of corn straw, providing an eco-friendly, low-cost solution for oily wastewater treatment and oil spill recovery.

Salt crystallization and low energy utilization efficiency are major challenges in solar interfacial evaporation processes.

The problem of petroleum pollution in water bodies and marine oil spills had been increasingly severe, posing a serious threat to human health. To address environmental governance issues, the efficient and economically feasible oil-water separation materials had become a prominent research field. In this study, nano-sized coconut activated carbon (CAC) was loaded into polyurethane sponge (PU) through dopamine (PDA) self-polymerization. Following this, the hydrophobic treatment with PDMS led to the successful preparation of sponge with strong oil sorption capacity and separation performance (PDMS/CAC@PU). The results showed that PDMS/CAC@PU could absorb 20.9 g/g to 81.8 g/g of oil or organic solvents in a single use. After 40 unidirectional separation cycles, the separation efficiency of PDMS/CAC@PU remained above 99%. Additionally, the material exhibited strong acid and alkali resistance (pH = 1-13), salt resistance, and good performance in light and heat conversion. Under a light intensity of 1.0 kW/m2, the PDMS/CAC@PU sponge's surface temperature swiftly climbed to exceed 70 degrees C.

Developing materials with integrated photothermal and Joule heating capabilities is essential for achieving efficient all-weather remediation of high-viscosity crude oil and de-icing in harsh environments. Herein, a bioinspired coral-reef structured multifunctional coating (HDTMS@PPy@COF@AC) was fabricated via a biomimetic interfacial polymerization strategy. This composite integrated a covalent organic framework (COF) for efficient thermal conduction, a polypyrrole (PPy) for photothermal and Joule heating conversion, and a hexadecamethyldisiloxane (HDTMS) for superhydrophobicity. The micro-nano coral-reef architecture resulted in excellent superhydrophobicity, with a water contact angle of 152.7°. The material exhibited outstanding absorption capacity toward various oils/organic solvents (10.2-24.8 g/g) and superior oil-water separation efficiency. Under 1.0 kW/m2 solar illumination, the surface temperature rapidly reached 80.8 °C within 3 min. Meanwhile, a 9 V voltage drove a steep temperature rise to 119.2 °C in just 40 s, enabling efficient viscosity reduction of high-viscosity crude oils for rapid absorption. Notably, through the synergy of photothermal and Joule heating dual modes (0.5 kW/m2 and 4.5 V), the material achieved rapid absorption of high-viscosity crude oil (120 s) and de-icing (60 s), thereby significantly reducing energy consumption. In conclusion, HDTMS@PPy@COF@AC fabricated by bionic structural design and multifunctional synergistic effect provides a new pathway for large-scale marine crude oil cleaning and de-icing applications.

Platinum chalcogenides (PtX, X = S, Se, Te) integrate the high intrinsic activity of platinum with the structural tunability of layered materials, making them promising candidates for electrocatalyzing the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This review establishes structure-activity relationships linking the crystal phase, layer thickness, and chalcogen identity to electronic properties such as conductivity, d-band center, and density of states. Key optimization strategies, including nanostructuring, heterostructure engineering, and disorder/activation engineering, enable ultralow Pt loadings while achieving HER activity comparable to commercial Pt/C. Despite progress, major challenges remain, including poor performance in neutral electrolytes, an incomplete understanding of catalytic dynamics, and inadequate long-term durability under industrial conditions. Future directions emphasize multicomponent heterostructures, surface engineering for complex media, multimodal operando techniques integrated with theoretical modeling, and AI-accelerated catalyst discovery. This review provides a framework for advancing PtX toward practical, cost-effective hydrogen production.

With the frequent occurrence of petroleum product spills, it caused serious economic losses and ecological problems. In this study, covalent organic framework (COF) was first grown by in situ polymerization on a polyurethane sponge (PU). Subsequently, the resulting product was modified with polydopamine (PDA) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to obtain PDMS/PDA/COF-modified polyurethane sponge (PPCPS). After testing, PPCPS was shown to have superhydrophobic properties with a contact angle of up to 154.42 degrees. The material for oil-water mixture separation efficiency was very high, after 50 times of circulation still reached more than 99.6 %. It had excellent adsorption capacity for a variety of oils and organic solvents, such as carbon tetrachloride oil-absorbing capacity could be 48.7 times. Its structure was stable under complex chemical environments and mechanical external forces, with good flame retardancy. In addition, the material had excellent photothermal conversion capacity, with a temperature of up to 70.1 degrees C at 1 kW/m2 light intensity, which could effectively reduce the viscosity of crude oil. COF and PDA synergistically enhanced photothermal heating and crude oil adsorption, enabling efficient crude oil separation and cyclic reuse.

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) offers a sustainable route for converting wet biomass-derived precursors into functional carbonaceous materials, yet mechanistic control over carbonization pathways, heteroatom incorporation, and metal-carbon interfacial evolution remains challenging. Here, we use glucose and glycine as representative carbohydrate and amino acid precursors, respectively, to elucidate how zero-valent iron (Fe0) regulates HTC chemistry under mild hydrothermal conditions. Rather than serving only as a performance-enhancing additive, Fe0 acts as a multifunctional regulator that directs hydrothermal transformation, enabling the controlled construction of Fe-C interfacial architectures. At 200 °C, Fe0 promotes the transformation of labile hydroxyl groups into more stable oxygen-containing interfacial moieties associated with C-O-C/Fe-O-C environments, enriches pyridinic-N species, and facilitates the formation of Fe3O4 nanophases embedded within the carbon matrix. Combined solid- and liquid-phase analyses reveal a Fe-mediated dissolution-recrystallization process, in which dissolved Fe species migrate from the aqueous phase to the growing hydrochar and participate in Fe-C interface construction. Adsorption experiments using cationic and anionic probes further demonstrate that Fe0-regulated HTC increases the specific surface area and changes the surface chemistry of the hydrochar, leading to selective affinity toward cationic species. This work provides mechanistic insights into Fe0-mediated hydrothermal carbonization and clarifies how iron regulates carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen redistribution during Fe-C interfacial hydrochar formation.

How to deal with the random discharge of oily wastewater had become an urgent environmental problem in recent years. In this study, turning waste into treasure: CFSB@PDMS based on discarded fermented steamed buns was developed for the recovery of high-viscosity oil. The discarded fermented steamed buns were derived from biomass material wheat, which was renewable and environmentally friendly. This study demonstrated CFSB@PDMS had multifaceted superior properties. The water contact angle of CFSB@PDMS was 145.39 degrees, although slightly lower than the typical values for fluorinated superhydrophobic coatings (>150 degrees), it was entirely based on fluorine-free, environmentally friendly materials, offering superior environmental sustainability. In 10 times gravity oil-water separations, the separation efficiency was still as high as 97.69 % with good cyclic stability. Under the condition of an optical power density of 1.0 kW/m(2), the surface temperature could be increased to 85.5 degrees C within 240 s. 73.05 % of crude oil and 65.00 % of hotpot oil could be recovered within 1 h. The excellent photothermal conversion characteristics provided a new solution for efficient recycling and treatment of high-viscosity oil, which had potential application prospects.

Frequent oil spills pose severe environmental and ecological threats, necessitating the development of materials capable of effective all-weather remediation of high-viscosity crude oil. In this study, a self-assembly strategy was employed to integrate covalent organic framework (COF) and polypyrrole (PPy) on a flexible cotton fabric (CF). Subsequent hydrophobic modification with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) produced a multifunctional composite membrane (PDMS@PPy@COF@CF) that integrated photothermal conversion, electrothermal response, and superhydrophobicity. The membrane exhibited excellent superhydrophobicity (WCA = 153.5°), superior oil-water separation efficiency (≥98.5%), and a high separation flux (≥24 010.4 L m–2 h–1). Notably, the construction of micro/nanostructures via π-π stacking and hydrogen bonding between PPy and COF layers endowed the material with outstanding photothermal and electrothermal conversion performances. Specifically, the surface temperature rapidly increased to 73.8 °C within 180 s under 1.0 kW m–2 irradiation and attained 145.9 °C at 10 V. Synergistic utilization of photothermal (0.5 kW m–2) and electrothermal (4 V) effects enabled rapid crude oil adsorption within merely 45 s. Furthermore, the composite membrane maintained stable conductivity and superhydrophobicity under mechanical strain, ensuring its reliability and durability for practical applications. In summary, the multifunctional PDMS@PPy@COF@CF membrane enables energy-efficient all-weather cleanup of high-viscosity crude oil spills with practical oil recovery potential.

Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is promising for refractory pollutant removal, whereas its application is constrained by long start-up periods and insufficient structural stability. Quorum sensing (QS) modulates bacterial community behaviors and plays a pivotal role in AGS formation and stabilization. Using quinoline as the target pollutant, this study successfully cultivated AGS. Moreover, we linked acyl-homoserine lactones (AHL)-based QS dynamics to EPS quantity/composition shifts during quinoline-stressed granulation. During granulation, the concentration of AHLs (C4-HSL and C8-HSL) increased with a significant upregulation of AHL-associated synthesis genes (mainly rhlI) and sensing genes (especially cciR, sdiA and aphA). Quinoline-triggered QS altered the composition of EPS, raising EPS content from 12.5 mg/g VSS to 97.5 mg/g VSS and the PN/PS ratio to 2.3, indicating enhanced granulation and improved particle stability. Further analysis revealed that the enriched hydrophobic amino acids and monosaccharides in EPS enhanced relative hydrophobicity of AGS, reduced surface negative charge, and eliminated the energy barrier, ultimately strengthening microbial aggregation. Furthermore, exogenous addition of 1 mu M C8-HSL effectively improved granule stability by regulating EPS biosynthesis. This work provides the first mechanistic evidence that AHL-mediated QS can be harnessed to improve AGS formation and resilience under toxic stress, by modulating EPS composition and microbial community.

Petroleum coke, as a reusable waste material from the petroleum refining process, could be used to reduce the viscosity of crude oil due to its good photothermal properties. In this study, multifunctional hydrophobic PDMS@PC@MS was obtained by loading petroleum coke (PC) powder onto MS (melamine sponge) by means of polydimethylsilane (PDMS). The results showed that the oil-absorption capacity of PC@PDMS@MS decreased with the increase of PC loading. 50-PDMS@PC@MS had a superhydrophobic surface (WCA of 150.88 degrees) that adsorbs and separates heavy and light oils in oil-water mixtures, respectively. It remains hydrophobic under a wide range of liquids and acid-base environments. After 10 successive cycles of separation, the separation efficiencies were all greater than 96 %. In addition, the surface temperature of 50-PC@PDMS@MS at 1sun (1 kW/ m2) could reach 82.9 degrees C after 180 s. The adsorption of butter on top of 50-PC@PDMS@MS could be completed within 7 min. Under the simulated crude oil leakage, the crude oil could be continuously adsorbed and separated under 1-3 kW/m2 of light, in which the separation efficiency of 50-PC@PDMS@MS (3sun) on crude oil could reach 71.42 %. This study provides a new direction for the treatment and value-added of waste petroleum coke, and a new method for the adsorption separation of offshore high-viscosity spills, which realizes the benign strategy of "taking from the oil, using for the oil".

Over the past few decades, CDs (cyclodextrins) and their polymers have been used in pharmaceutical, medical, food, and chromatographic applications due to their special structure of internal hydrophobicity and external hydrophilicity. Therefore, they were extremely useful in solid-phase (micro)extraction. In this review, various synthesis methods of CDs polymers, such as cross-linking polymerization, grafting, self-assembly, molecular imprinting, and cyclodextrin microporous organic networks, were comprehensively introduced. Additionally, the adsorption mechanism of CDs polymers was elaborated. Moreover, the applications of CDs polymers in solid-phase (micro)extraction for food, environmental, and biological samples, along with their excellent properties, were systematically summarized. Finally, the challenges and application prospects of CDs polymers in sample pretreatment were presented. This review was expected to provide valuable references for the development of preparation technologies for CDs polymers with low cost and high adsorption performance.

With the increasing incidence of marine oil spills and the indiscriminate discharge of domestic waste oils, ecological pollution had become an increasingly severe problem. This study aimed to develop a threedimensional photothermal oil-water separation material, CYM@PDMS, capable of addressing the challenge of recovering high-viscosity oils. As a rapidly growing agricultural crop, yam represented a sustainable biomass carbon source. This study employed biomass-derived carbon from yam directly as the precursor for the adsorbent material. Possessing a honeycomb-like porous structure alongside photothermal conversion advantages, this approach reduced reliance on traditional fossil-based carbon materials while simplifying the manufacturing process. CYM@PDMS was a highly defective amorphous carbon. Employing biomimetic lotus leaf-inspired lowsurface-energy modification techniques, Which exhibited outstanding comprehensive performance: its internal static water contact angle reached 141.51 degrees, with a single-pass oil-water separation efficiency of 97 %. After 10 cycles of use, separation efficiency remained stable within the 95 %-96 % range. This material also exhibited outstanding photothermal conversion properties, with a photothermal conversion efficiency of: 76.05 %. Under 1.0 kW/m2 illumination, the surface temperature rapidly rose to 78.2 degrees C. As light intensity increases from 1.0 kW/m2 to 3.0 kW/m2, CYM@PDMS achieved effective viscosity reduction for butter, hotpot oil, and crude oil through photothermal conversion, with a maximum recovery rate of 78.41 % for high-viscosity oils. Furthermore, CYM@PDMS exhibited not only outstanding mechanical stability but also chemical and high-temperature stability, with a pyrolysis temperature of approximately 500 degrees C. The main backbone of CYM@PDMS originated from the renewable biomass yam, which not only provided a novel pathway for developing low-cost functional materials using abundant biomass resources but also offered fresh insights into creating oil-water separation materials with simple preparation processes and excellent performance.

The interfacial photo-hot water evaporation technique combined with salt crystallization treatment is expected to be applied in practice. In this study, a 0.5-MC@FP evaporator was assembled by loading MWCNTs through filter paper and using cotton swabs as water delivery channels. The 0.5-MC@FP evaporators with different filter paper layers were prepared and tested to verify the evaporation efficiency and salt recovery performance of the 0.5-MC@FP evaporator. The results showed that the evaporation rate of 0.5-MC@FP-1 could reach 1.33 kg/m2h under light (1 kW/m2), and the efficiency of separating vapors and salt was 80.35 %. The surface temperature of the 0.5-MC@FP evaporator could reach more than 70 degrees C after 240 s of light during drying time. The average evaporation rate of the 0.5-MC@FP-1 over 10 cycle days and salt recovery were 1.31 kg/(m2 h) and 39.77 g/(m2 h), respectively. Moreover, continuous water evaporation and marginal salt crystallization separation for 144 h could be achieved. In addition, the 0.5-MC@FP evaporator can continuously output voltage within 600 s. This work demonstrates an interfacial photothermal evaporator with cyclic continuous steam generation, salt collection, and continuous power generation, which provides a new direction for solving the problem of salt crystallization during water evaporation and water transport regulation of the evaporator.

Renewable electricity-powered electrocatalysis technologies occupy a central position in clean energy conversion and the pursuit of a net-zero carbon emission future. Water can serve multiple roles in electrocatalytic reactions, for instance, as a reaction medium, reactant, modifier, promoter, etc. This significantly influences the mass transport, active site, intermediate adsorption and reaction kinetics, ultimately determining the electrocatalytic performance (e.g., activity, selectivity, and stability) as well as device efficiency. As the heart location where electrocatalytic reactions occur, the typical electrical-double layer is established at a water-electrode interface. Therefore, the comprehension and regulation of water are crucial topics in electrocatalysis, which encourages us to organize this review. We begin with the fundamental understanding on structure of water and its behavior under electrochemical conditions. Subsequently, we delve into the "water effect" by elucidating specific functions of water in electrocatalysis. Recent advances in manipulating water to enhance electrocatalytic efficiency of representative reactions such as hydrogen evolution/oxidation, oxygen evolution/reduction, CO2 reduction, N2 reduction and organic electrosynthesis, are also highlighted. We finally discuss the remaining challenges and future opportunities in this field.

Frequent oil spills at sea and the large-scale marine fires caused by them seriously jeopardize the marine ecosystem and human health. In this study, the use of multifunctional oil-absorbing materials was expected to solve the problems triggered by marine oil spills. Herein, a multifunctional coated polyurethane foams (FPMA-PUF) were prepared by immersing polyurethane foams (PUF) into a coating containing fluorinated polydimethylsilane (F-PDMS), silica, hydroxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-OH), and ammonium polyphosphate (APP). The results showed that FPMA-PUF exhibited superhydrophobicity, chemical stability, and mechanical durability, which was capable of adsorbing and separating a variety of oils in a stable manner. FPMA-PUF had excellent flame retardancy and self-extinguishing after 65 s of combustion, which could reduce the risk of fire. In addition, FPMA-PUF also had a certain degree of fire resistance in the simulation of marine oil fire. FPMA-PUF could be used in combination with a pump to achieve the recovery of oil within 52 s for fire extinguish. This work provided a new direction for dealing with the adsorption and separation of high-viscosity oils, safety prevention and control of fires caused by marine oils, as well as fire extinguishing treatment, and realizing the benign strategy of extinguishing the fire by pumping the oil strike at the root of the trouble.

A catalyst (NiW/Ti-USY) was prepared via an impregnation method. Its catalytic performance was investigated for the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of Jatropha oil. It was found that the support composition significantly influenced the Lewis acid site concentration, thereby affecting the deoxygenation performance. The catalyst exhibited optimal activity when the Ti loading reached 9 wt%. Furthermore, under the same support conditions, a Ni/W mass ratio of 1:9 and a total NiW loading of 30% resulted in the best catalytic performance, achieving a deoxygenation rate exceeding 90% and a minimum olefin content of 9.64%. GC-MS analysis of the product oil revealed a ratio of (C15 + C17)/(C16 + C18) greater than 10, indicating that the decarbonylation/decarboxylation (DCO/DCO₂) pathway dominated the hydrodeoxygenation process.