Synthesis And Characterization Of Fast And High Oil Absorption Resin By High Internal Phase Emulsion

In recent years, the oil pollution incidents are increasing, which are neededemergency treatment. So the development of the synthesis and application of fast andhigh oil absorption resins has an important practical significance for emergencytreatment.In this study, a fast oil-absorption resin with high pore level was developed byconcentrated inverse emulsion polymerization for the practical application in emergencytreatment of spilled chemical pollutants. The oil absorption rate test displayed that only30min was needed for the resin to reach absorption saturation. The property waselucidated by the porous structure of the resins. Besides, resins exhibited high oilretention percentage in terms of fast centrifuge speed test and high reusability in terms ofthe repetitive absorption/desorption test. The effect of different polymerizationparameters, such as the amount of initiator, cross-linker and emulsifier, on the oilabsorbency was investigated in detail. The experimental results showed that theabsorptive capacity of the resin was8.5g/g for toluene and15.8g/g for chloroform underthe optimized conditions.To achieve the dual features of fast oil absorption rate and high oil absorbency forthe practical application in emergency treatment of spilled chemical pollutants,hierarchical porous resins were synthesized. The polymerization of high internal phaseemulsion was applied to fabricate the porous structure for the purpose of high oilabsorbency. Polymeric porogens were proposed to adjust the second-order orinterconnected pore structure for fast oil absorption rate. SEM revealed the hierarchicalporous structure. Molecular weight and dose of polymeric porogen were investigated forthe effect on the formation of porous structure and absorption features. Optimized resinshave31.5g/g or17.1g/g absorbency for chloroform and toluene, respectively, and only5minutes is needed to reach their saturation absorption. Besides, the porous resinsdemonstrated high oil retention under pressure. The absorption/desorption cycling results revealed the high repeatability of recovered resins.All these features predicted the potential applications of porous resins of this kindparticularly in the emergency treatment of oil and chemical pollution.