Effect of foam density, oil viscosity, and temperature on oil sorption behavior of polyurethane

Highly Porous Gas-Blown Hydrogels for Direct Cell Encapsulation with High Cell Viability

Cell transplant therapies show potential as treatments for a large number of diseases. The encapsulation of cells within hydrogels is often used to mimic the extracellular matrix and protect cells from the body's immune response. However, cell encapsulation can be limited in terms of both scaffold size and cell viability due to poor nutrient and waste transport throughout the bulk of larger volume hydrogels. Strategies to address this issue include creating prevascularized or porous structured materials. For example, cell-laden hydrogels can be formed by porogen leaching or three-dimensional printing, but these techniques involve the use of multiple materials, long preparation times, and/or specialized equipment. Postfabrication cell seeding in porous scaffolds can result in inconsistent cell density throughout scaffold volumes and typically requires a bioreactor to ensure even cell distribution. In this study, we developed a highly cytocompatible direct cell encapsulation method during the rapid fabrication of porous hydrogels. Using sodium bicarbonate and citric acid as blowing agents, we employed photocurable polymers to produce highly porous materials within a matter of minutes. Cells were directly encapsulated within methacrylated poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(ethylene glycol), and gelatin hydrogels at viabilities as high as 93% by controlling solution variables, such as citric acid content, viscosity, pH, and curing time. Cell viability within the resulting porous constructs was high (>80%) over 14 days of analysis with multiple cell types. This work provides a simple, versatile, and tunable method for cell encapsulation within highly porous constructs that can be built upon in future work for the delivery of cell-based therapies. Impact Statement This simple method to obtain cell-laden hydrogel foams allows direct cell encapsulation within biomaterials without the need for porogens or microcarriers, while maintaining high cell viability. The successful encapsulation of multiple cell types into gas-blown hydrogels with varied chemistries shows the versatility of this method. While this work focuses on photocrosslinkable polymers, any quick gelling material could be used for foam fabrication in expansion of this work. The potential future impact of this work on the treatment of diseases and injuries that utilize cell therapies is wide-ranging.

Kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamics of oil spills removal by novel amphiphilic Chitosan-g-Octanal Schiff base polymer developed by click grafting technique

Kinetic, isothermal and thermodynamic studies for the oil spills removal process have been conducted by Chitosan and novel amphiphilic Chitosan-g-Octanal Schiff base adsorbents developed by click chemistry and evaluated successfully in the removal of heavy crude oil spills. Chitosan was first prepared from wastes of marine shrimp shells, and then Chitosan and Chitosan-g-Octanal Schiff base adsorbents were synthesized and verified their structures, thermal stability and their morphological changes using FT-IR spectroscopy, TGA and SEM. The oil adsorption percentages (%) using heavy crude oil were 96.41% for the Chitosan-g-Octanal Schiff base adsorbent compared to 64.99% for native Chitosan counterpart. High rate of adsorption was observed where 40% of oil adsorbed within 15 min only using the Chitosan-g-Octanal Schiff base adsorbent compared to 90 min for native Chitosan adsorbent. The adsorption process followed the pseudo-second order model, and the equilibrium data were sufficiently fitted with the Langmuir model with a maximum adsorption capacity 30.30 g/g at 25 °C. Thermodynamic parameters computed from Van’t Hoff plot confirmed the process to be endothermic, favorable and spontaneous.

The emergence of nanotechnology in mitigating petroleum oil spills

The world has witnessed the circumstances shaped by the oil spill for many decades that cause serious environmental problems and adverse effects on human health. Many techniques and remediation methods are followed for efficient oil spill cleanups but with the limitations and environmental issues, these procedures were not completely efficient. The "nanotechnology" word itself has fascinated not only the researchers but also many industries and the global race is on to tap its potential and to derive benefit from it. Their small size and exceptional properties have proven their potential in providing technological solutions to engineering problems. This study focuses on the scope of nanotechnology in oil spill cleanups and shows how the limitations presented by conventional methodologies can be overcome. This paper categorizes and thoroughly reviews the application of nanotechnology in oil spill cleanups in different forms and also focuses on the environmental aspects of it.

Flexible, Elastic, and Superhydrophobic/Superoleophilic Adhesive for Reusable and Durable Water/Oil Separation Coating

This study investigates a highly flexible/stretchable and mechanically durable superhydrophobic/superoleophilic coating for efficient oil/water separation and oil absorption. The coating is applied via a simple immersion process using a mixed solution of a biocompatible adhesive (ethyl cyanoacrylate, ECA), a highly stretchable polymer (polycaprolactone, PCL), and superhydrophobic/superoleophilic nanoparticles (fluorine-coated silica nanoparticles, F-SiO₂ NPs) in a solvent, followed by solvent evaporation and ECA polymerization. Polymerized ECA (poly-ECA) in the coating material strongly adheres the F-SiO₂ NPs to the substrate surface, while PCL bestows the rigid poly-ECA with high flexibility. A coated polyurethane sponge exhibits superhydrophobicity (water contact angle of >150°), while retaining robust mechanical stability and flexibility/elasticity. This provides an efficient means of cleaning oil spills with high selectivity, even after mechanical abrasion (>99% separation efficiency is retained after 120 tape test cycles and 50 rubbing test cycles), with excellent reusability.

Sorption as a rapidly response for oil spill accidents: A material and mechanistic approach

Accidents involving oil transportation has increase due to directly connection with the elevation of global energy demand. The environmental losses are tremendous and brings huge economic issues to remediate the spilled oil. This report presents an up-to-date review on an overall aspects of oil spill remediation techniques, the fundamentals and advantages of sorption, the most applied materials through diverse types of oil spill sites and oils with variety features, highlight to natural materials and future prospective. As the environment preservation progressively becomes a major social concern issue, the achievement of a worldwide distribution process aligned with environmental legislation and economic viability is crucial to the oil industry. For this, a specific preparation considering several scenarios must be carried out regarding minimization of oil spillages. Since the sorbent materials are decisive for sorption, it was approached the main sorbents: natural, graphenic, nano, polymeric and waste materials, and future trends.

Multifunctional Oil Absorption with Macroporous Polystyrene Fibers Incorporating Silver-Doped ZnO

Hydrophobic microporous polystyrene (PS) fibers are fabricated by a solvent-induced phase-separation-assisted electrospinning method. Zinc oxide (ZnO) and silver-doped zinc oxide (Ag-ZnO) nanomaterials with variable morphologies are added to the PS fibers, to investigate the influence of multifunctional nanofiller addition on the porosity and consequent oil-adsorbing properties for different oil types. The doping of silver as well as the uniformity in particle distribution are confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and the energy-dispersive spectral analyses. The porosity of the fibers and their crystallinity effect depend on the hydrophobicity and surface properties of these microporous nanofilled fibers. Ag-ZnO, specifically in 2 wt %, enhanced the pore size and distribution in PS porous fibers, thereby enhancing the oil-adsorbing property and its hydrophobicity. In-depth analysis of the oil adsorption mechanism is done for the fibers, both qualitatively and quantitatively, to demonstrate its correlation with the structural integrity of the fibers. The PS/2Ag-ZnO composite also exhibits the highest antibacterial performance against Staphylococcus aureus, a general indication of antibiological fouling properties of these oil-separating films. The antifouling/antibacterial activity of the nanoparticles and high oil sorption capacity of the highly porous PS composites show great potential for use in water-treatment-related applications.

Synthesis and Preparation of Hydrophobic CNTs-Coated Melamine Formaldehyde Foam by Green and Simple Method for Efficient Oil/Water Separation

Hydrophobic porous polymeric materials have attracted great interests recently as potential candicate for oil-water separation due to their high selectivity and sorption capacity. Herein, we present a green, simple and cost-effective method to change hydrophilic melamine formaldehyde (MF) foam to hydrophobic carbon nanotubes (CNTs) coated MF foam through an immersion process. The MF foam was produced from the MF resin which was synthesized in a laboratory by a condensation reaction between melamine and formaldehyde under alkaline condition with a molar ratio of melamine to formaldehyde of 1:3. The MF foam has an open-cell structure with the average pore diameter of 350 m, density of 25 kg •m-3 and porosity of 98 %. The as-prepared CNTs-coated MF foam exhibits high sorption capacity (23–-66 g/g) for oils and organic solvents, good recyclability and high selectivity.

In situ oils/organic solvents cleanup and recovery using advanced oil-water separation system

Removing contaminants from wastewater is critical towards resolving global water pollution problems. However, the variety of oily contaminants composition, and the unsatisfactory performance and efficiency of current separation systems are still big challenges, thus developing efficient and scalable oil-water separation (OWS) methods is needed. Here, the performance of a novel pilot-scale oil-water separator skimmer (OWSS) prototype is fully investigated using an upflow fixed bed column system packed with polypropylene (PP) fibrous sorbent materials for dual continuous OWS and in situ oils/organic solvents recovery. The mechanism of oil sorption by the PP fibrous sorbents, as well as capillary and vacuum assisted oil flow within the inter-fiber voids is fully explored. A series of pilot-scale column experiments were performed with different bed heights (7.5-30 cm) and using different types of oil/solvent in order to determine their influence on the oil flux, OWS efficiency and recovered organic solvent purity. The OWSS provided excellent and stable performance. A trade-off relationship between oil flux and OWS efficiency can be obtained: The maximum flux was attained at the lowest sorbent bed height (7.5 cm), while the maximum OWS efficiency (>99%) was achieved at the highest sorbent bed height (30 cm). The materials' morphology and wettability were examined showing outstanding stability and recyclability, which demonstrates their efficient integration into the overall OWSS. This study is expected to provide significant insights into the feasibility and scalability of an advanced, environmentally friendly, and relatively cost-effective OWS system, towards promising industrial implementation to overcome large-scale oil spill cleanup and oily wastewater treatment shortcomings.

Synthesis and Characterization of Graphite Composite Foams for Oil Spill Recovery Application

The aim of this paper is the synthesis and characterization of a composite silicone foam filled with expanded graphite (EG) for oil spill recovery applications. The EG foams were obtained using a foaming slurry consisting of a mixture of siloxane compounds as the matrix with an EG filler. The effect of the filler content’s performance on an innovative composite silicone-based foam was investigated. All the obtained samples exhibited an open cell morphology. Each foam was evaluated in four commonly used oils (kerosene, pump oil, naphtha and crude oil). Additionally, kinetics was studied in order to investigate the physical, chemical and mass transport mechanisms that act during the absorption phenomenon and uptake evolution of the contaminants. Foam filled with 3% of EG exhibited the highest absorption capacity, particularly with light oils kerosene and virgin naphtha (854 and 1016 wt.%, respectively). Furthermore, the kinetic study showed that pseudo-second order mechanisms better fitted the composite absorption performances, suggesting that the oil sorption into EG filled polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) foams could be related to chemisorption mechanism. The results evidenced a good oil sorption capability and water/oil selectivity indicating this class of materials as a potentially applicable material for oil spill remediation.

Natural rubber/reduced-graphene oxide composite materials: Morphological and oil adsorption properties for treatment of oil spills

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Natural rubber/rGO composite foam was used as an oil sorbent.

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Addition of rGO enhanced the oil adsorption capacity and strength of NR sorbent foam.

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Inclusion of 0.5 phr rGO into NR increased the crude oil adsorption capacity to 17.04 g g⁻¹.

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Oil adsorption mechanism of the sorbent materials was proposed.

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Reusability of the NR/rGO sorbent was greater than 70% oil adsorption for 30 cycles.

A green sorbent material was fabricated through the simple addition of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to natural rubber (NR) latex. The effect of rGO content in the NR foam on petroleum oil adsorption was investigated. The addition of rGO in NR increased the petroleum oil adsorption capacity of the resulting NR/rGO (NRG) composite foam (12–21 g g⁻¹) with respect to those of the pure NR foam (8–15 g g⁻¹) and a commercial sorbent (6–7 g g⁻¹). The adsorption capacity was optimal for 0.5 phr rGO (NRG-0.5). Further, the environmental conditions (temperature and waves) affected the oil adsorption capacity of the sorbent materials. The adsorption kinetics of the sorbent materials for crude AXL oil was best described with pseudo-second-order kinetics. The interparticle diffusion model revealed three steps whereas the adsorption isotherms approximated the Langmuir isotherms. Moreover, the oil adsorption mechanisms of the NR and NRG sorbent materials were compared to that of a commercial sorbent. The high elasticity of the NRG-0.5 composite foam improved not only the oil adsorption capacity but also the reusability of the sorbent material. The presence of rGO increased the strength of the NRG-0.5 compared to that of pure NR, which resulted in a high-performance and reusable material with an oil removal efficiency higher than 70% after 30 uses.

Surface modification of polymeric foams for oil spills remediation

In the last decade, a continuous increasing research activity is focused on the surface functionalization of polymeric porous materials for the efficient removal of oil contaminants from water. This work reviews the most significant recent studies on the functionalization of polyurethane and melamine foams, materials commonly reported for oil-water separation applications. After the identification of the key features of the foams required to optimize their oil removal performance, a wide variety of physicochemical treatments are described together with their effect on the oil absorption selectivity and oil absorption capacity, both critical parameters for the application of the foams in the remediation of oil spills. The efficiencies of the different functionalization processes on the same type of foams are compared, determining the main advantages and potentialities of each treatment and remediation procedure.

Polyurethane foam impregnated with lignin as a filler for the removal of crude oil from contaminated water

The present study describes the influence of the concentration of lignin when used as a filler in polyurethane foam for crude oil sorption. The foams (lignin 0-20wt%) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis, contact angle and density. The FTIR analysis confirmed urethane linkage formation, showing that the chemical structure of the polymer was preserved, despite the addition of different lignin concentrations. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the presence of lignin has altered the onset temperature (T_onset) of the foams, decreasing as the concentration of lignin is increased. The contact angle analysis showed a decrease in the hydrophobicity of the foams with increasing lignin concentration. All modified foams showed an improvement in the oil sorption capacity in a PUF/oil/water system, and the PUF-10 showed an improvement of about 35.5% compared to the PUF-blank. The Langmuir isotherm showed a better fit to the data and predicted a maximum oil adsorption of 28.9gg^-1 by the PUF-10. The ΔG° value of -4.4kJmol^-1 indicated that crude oil adsorption process by PUF-10 was spontaneous. The results of reuse of the PUF-10 showed that oil removal efficiency remained greater than 95% after five consecutive cycles.

Electrospun nanofibrous membrane of porous fluorine-containing triptycene-based polyimides for oil/water separation

A novel nanofibrous membrane for oil/water separation was prepared from porous fluorine-containing triptycene-based polyimide.

Outstanding adsorption performance of high aspect ratio and super-hydrophobic carbon nanotubes for oil removal

Oil removal from water is a highly important area due to the large production rate of emulsified oil in water, which is considered one of the major pollutants, having a negative effect on human health, environment and wildlife. In this study, we have reported the application of high quality carbon nanotube bundles produced by an injected vertical chemical vapor deposition (IV-CVD) reactor for oil removal. High quality, bundles, super hydrophobic, and high aspect ratio carbon nanotubes were produced. The average diameters of the produced CNTs ranged from 20 to 50 nm while their lengths ranged from 300 to 500 μm. Two types of CNTs namely, P-CNTs and C-CNTs, (Produced CNTs from the IV-CVD reactor and commercial CNTs) were used for oil removal from water. For the first time, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was conducted to measure maximum oil uptake using CNT and it was found that P-CNT can take oil up to 17 times their weight. The effect of adsorbent dosage, contact time, and agitation speed were examined on the oil spill clean-up efficiency using batch sorption experiments. Higher efficiency with almost 97% removal was achieved using P-CNTs compared to 87% removal using C-CNTs.

Development of Styrene-Grafted Polyurethane by Radiation-Based Techniques

Polyurethane (PU) is the fifth most common polymer in the general consumer market, following Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene (PE), Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and Polystyrene (PS), and the most common polymer for thermosetting resins. In particular, polyurethane has excellent hardness and heat resistance, is a widely used material for electronic products and automotive parts, and can be used to create products of various physical properties, including rigid and flexible foams, films, and fibers. However, the use of polar polymer polyurethane as an impact modifier of non-polar polymers is limited due to poor combustion resistance and impact resistance. In this study, we used gamma irradiation at 25 and 50 kGy to introduce the styrene of hydrophobic monomer on the polyurethane as an impact modifier of the non-polar polymer. To verify grafted styrene, we confirmed the phenyl group of styrene at 690 cm⁻¹ by Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and at 6.4–6.8 ppm by ¹H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹H-NMR). Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and contact angle analysis were also used to confirm styrene introduction. This study has confirmed the possibility of applying high-functional composite through radiation-based techniques.

Enhancing oil removal from water by immobilizing multi-wall carbon nanotubes on the surface of polyurethane foam

A surface modification method was carried out to enhance the light crude oil sorption capacity of polyurethane foam (PUF) through immobilization of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) on the foam surface at various concentrations. The developed sorbent was characterized using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and tensile elongation test. The results obtained from thermogravimetric and tensile elongation tests showed the improvement of thermal and mechanical resistance of surface-modified foam. The experimental data also revealed that the immobilization of MWCNT on PUF surface enhanced the sorption capacity of light crude oil and reduced water sorption. The highest oil removal capacity was obtained for 1 wt% MWCNT on PUF surface which was 21.44% enhancement in light crude oil sorption compared to the blank PUF. The reusability of surface modified PUF was determined through four cycles of chemical regeneration using petroleum ether. The adsorption of light crude oil with 30 g initial mass showed that 85.45% of the initial oil sorption capacity of this modified sorbent was remained after four regeneration cycles. Equilibrium isotherms for adsorption of oil were analyzed by the Freundlich, Langmuir, Temkin, and Redlich-Peterson models through linear and non-linear regression methods. Results of equilibrium revealed that Langmuir isotherm is the best fitting model and non-linear method is a more accurate way to predict the parameters involved in the isotherms. The overall findings suggested the promising potentials of the developed sorbent in order to be efficiently used in large-scale oil spill cleanup.

Fibrous membranes electrospun from the suspension polymerization product of styrene and butyl acrylate for oil–water separation

Fibrous membranes electrospun from the copolymer of styrene and butyl acrylate could separate oil from water due to their excellent hydrophobicity.

Superhydrophobic and oleophilic open-cell foams from fibrillar blends of polypropylene and polytetrafluoroethylene

Effective removal of oils from water is of global significance for environmental protection. In this study, we investigate the hydrophobicity and oleophilicity of open-cell polymer foams prepared in a continuous and scalable extrusion process. The material used to prepare the open-cell foams is a fibrillar blend of polypropylene (PP) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the morphology of the PP/PTFE fibrillar blend reveal that the PTFE has a fibrillar morphology in the PP matrix. SEM micrograph of the extruded foam shows the formation of an interconnected open-cell structure. Using nitrogen pycnometry, the open-cell content is estimated to be 97.7%. A typical bulk density of the open-cell foam is measured to be about 0.07 g cm(-3) corresponding to a void fraction of 92%. Thus, a large three-dimensional space is made available for oil storage. A drop of water on the cross-section of the extruded open-cell foam forms a contact angle of 160° suggesting that the open-cell foam exhibits superhydrophobicity. The open-cell foam can selectively absorb various petroleum products, such as octane, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, light crude oil, and heavy crude oil from water and the uptake capacities range from about 5 to 24 g g(-1). The uptake kinetics can be enhanced by exposing the open-cell foam to high intensity ultrasound which increases the surface porosity of the thin, impervious, foam "skin" layer. The reusability of the foam can be improved by using a matrix polymer which demonstrates superior elastic properties and prevents the foams from undergoing a large permanent deformation upon compression to "squeeze out" the oil. For example, when the PP homopolymer matrix is replaced with a PP random copolymer, the permanent deformation for 10 compressive cycles is reduced from about 30% to 10%. To the best of our knowledge, these PP-based open-cell foams outperform PP-based absorbents conventionally used for oil-spill cleanup applications such as nonwoven PP fibers or melt-blown PP pads.

Oil sorbents with high sorption capacity, oil/water selectivity and reusability for oil spill cleanup

A sorbent for oil spill cleanup was prepared through a novel strategy by treating polyurethane sponges with silica sol and gasoline successively. The oil sorption capacity, oil/water selectivity, reusability and sorption mechanism of prepared sorbent were studied. The results showed that the prepared sorbent exhibited high sorption capacity and excellent oil/water selectivity. 1g of the prepared sorbent could adsorb more than 100 g of motor oil, while it only picks up less than 0.1 g of water from an oil-water interface under both static and dynamic conditions. More than 70% of the sorption capacity remained after 15 successive sorption-squeezing cycles, which suggests an extraordinary high reusability. The prepared sorbent is a better alternative of the commercial polypropylene sorbent which are being used nowadays.

Effect of blend ratio of PP/kapok blend nonwoven fabrics on oil sorption capacity

More research and development on novel oil sorbent materials is needed to protect the environmental pollution. New nonwoven fabrics (pads) of polypropylene (PP)/kapok blends (blend ratio: 100/0, 75/25, 50/50, 25/75 and 10/90) were prepared by needle punching process at a fixed (optimized) condition (punch density: 50 punches/cm2 and depth: 4mm). This study focused on the effect of blend ratio of PP/kapok nonwoven fabrics on oil sorption capacities to find the best blend ratio having the highest synergy effect. The PP/kapok blend (50/50) sample has the lowest bulk density and showed the best oil absorption capacity. The oil sorption capacity of PP/kapok blend (50/50) nonwoven fabric for kerosene/soybean oil [21.09/27.01 (g oil/g sorbent)] was 1.5-2 times higher than those of commercial PP pad oil sorbents. The highest synergy effect of PP/kapok blend (50/50) was ascribed to the lowest bulk density of PP/kapok blend (50/50), which might be due to the highest morphologically incompatibility between PP fibre and kapok. These results suggest that the PP/kapok blend (50/50) having the highest synergy effect has a high potential as a new high-performance oil sorbent material.

An environmentally friendly method for the fabrication of reduced graphene oxide foam with a super oil absorption capacity

Three kinds of graphene oxide (GO) foams were fabricated using different freezing methods (unidirectional freezing drying (UDF), non-directional freezing drying, and air freezing drying), and the corresponding reduced graphene oxide (RGO) foams were prepared by their thermal reduction of those GO foams. These RGO foams were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The absorption process and the factors that influence the absorption capacity were investigated. The RGO foams are hydrophobic and showed extremely high absorbing abilities for organic liquids. The absorption capacity of the RGO foams made by UDF was higher than 100 g g(-1) for all the oils tested (gasoline, diesel oil, pump oil, lubricating oil and olive oil) and had the highest value of about 122 g g(-1) for olive oil. The oil absorption capacity of the GO foams was lower than that of the RGO foams, but for olive oil, the absorption capacity was still high than 70 g g(-1), which is higher than that of most oil absorbents.

Hydrophobic high surface area zeolites derived from fly ash for oil spill remediation

Fly ash, a coal combustion byproduct with a predominantly aluminosilicate composition, is modified to develop an inexpensive sorbent for oil spill remediation. The as-produced fly ash is a hydrophilic material with poor sorption capacity. A simple two-step chemical modification process is designed to improve the oil sorption capacity. First, the fly ash was transformed to a zeolitic material via an alkali treatment, which increased the specific surface area up to 404 m(2) g(-1). Then, the material was surface functionalized to form a hydrophobic material with high contact angle up to 147° that floats on the surface of an oil-water mixture. The reported oil sorption capacities of X-type zeolite sorbent with different surface functionalization (propyl-, octyl-, octadecyl-trimethoxysilane and esterification) were estimated to 1.10, 1.02, 0.86, and 1.15 g g(-1), respectively. Oil sorption was about five times higher than the as-received fly ash (0.19 g g(-1)) and also had high buoyancy critical for economic cleanup of oil over water.

Hydrophobic modification of polyurethane foam for oil spill cleanup

To improve the oleophilic/hydrophobic properties of polyurethane (PU) foams for oil spill cleanup, PU samples were modified by grafting with oleophilic monomer Lauryl methacrylate (LMA) in solvent and/or coating with LMA microspheres through heating and curing. Modified PU cubes were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The water sorption of modified PU cubes was decreased by 24-50%, while the diesel or kerosene sorption of modified PU cubes was increased by 18-27%. In water-oil system, compared with blank PU cubes, the sorption capacity of PU cubes grafted with LMA was increased by 44% for diesel and 100% for kerosene. The sorption capacity of PU cubes coated with LMA microspheres was increased by 20% for diesel and 7% for kerosene. The solvent sorption of modified PU cubes could reach 50-69 g/g. The modified PU cubes can be effectively used in oil/solvent spill cleanup.