Herein, we report a facile method to fabricate thermo-mechanically reinforced polymer nanocomposite aerogel for oil-field-generated water treatment applications. Polystyrene-graphene (PS-G) aerogel was prepared using solvent crystallization-induced phase separation through flash-freezing route. The fabricated polymer nanocomposite aerogel was characterized using Fourier-Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) surface area, and nano-indentation test. The PS-G nanocomposite aerogel showed 3D-interpenetrating network structures with high specific surface area (~ 300 m²/g) and high porosity. Notably, the PS-G aerogel exhibits a reinforced compression strength of 152 kPa compared to that of PS aerogel (124 kPa). The PS-Graphene aerogel showed T_g value as high as 101.4 ^oC. The PS-G nanocomposite aerogel was found to be a potential absorbent for the rapid removal of oil from produced water samples. Interestingly, the PS-G nanocomposite aerogel exhibited an oil absorption capacity of 50 g/g and reached saturation within 20 min. Furthermore, the aerogel nanocomposite absorbent can be easily regenerated by simple squeezing or washing with methanol and was found to be efficiently recycled up to 10 cycles with only a negligible reduction in oil absorption efficiency.

在此，我们报告了一种简单的方法来制造用于油田产生的水处理应用的热机械增强聚合物纳米复合气凝胶。采用溶剂结晶诱导相分离通过闪冻途径制备聚苯乙烯-石墨烯（PS-G）气凝胶。使用傅里叶变换红外光谱 (FT-IR)、X 射线衍射 (XRD)、差示扫描量热法 (DSC)、场发射扫描电子显微镜 (FE-SEM) 和 Brunauer 对制备的聚合物纳米复合气凝胶进行表征-Emmet-Teller (BET) 表面积和纳米压痕测试。 PS-G纳米复合气凝胶表现出3D互穿网络结构，具有高比表面积（约300 m ² /g）和高孔隙率。值得注意的是，与 PS 气凝胶 (124 kPa) 相比，PS-G 气凝胶的压缩强度增强为 152 kPa。 PS-石墨烯气凝胶的 Tg_值高达 101.4 ^o C。PS-G 纳米复合气凝胶被发现是一种潜在的吸收剂，可用于快速去除采出水样品中的石油。有趣的是，PS-G纳米复合气凝胶的吸油能力为50 g/g，并在20分钟内达到饱和。此外，气凝胶纳米复合材料吸收剂可以通过简单的挤压或用甲醇洗涤来轻松再生，并且可以有效地回收多达10个循环，而吸油效率的降低可以忽略不计。