Significantly improving strength and oil-adsorption performance of regular porous polydimethylsiloxane via soft template approach

Nanofibers can be used in fields/applications such as medical care, environment protection, apparel, and agriculture. In addition, we believe that this field would continue to show substantial growth in the future. In this study, we focused on its application to oil adsorption. Oil adsorbing performances achieved polymeric nanofiber mass production by a melt-blowing method. We first tested the oil adsorption performance of fiber experimentally under different bulk densities and thicknesses. We also conducted the suction experiment with different bulk densities. Based on experimental result, we considered contact angle, capillarity, and surface tension to be the causes of oil adsorption. We also proposed a three-direction physical model for oil adsorption and used it to calculate the theoretical oil adsorption rate by different free volumes. As a result, we confirmed that the proposed three-direction model could accurately estimate the oil adsorption rate. Moreover, nanofiber has exceptional oil adsorption performance. Further, the fiber with average diameter of 1500 nm exceeds 60 times its self-weight. Therefore, we believe that the proposed nanofiber nonwoven fabric oil adsorption pad could adequately be used as oil adsorption material.

Download Full-text

Synthesis, Phase-Transition Behaviour, and Oil Adsorption Performance of Porous Poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) Alkyl Ether Acrylate) Gels

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym12061405 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 1405

Author(s):

Syed Ragib Safi ◽

Taku Nakata ◽

Shyotaro Hara ◽

Takehiko Gotoh ◽

Takashi Iizawa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ethylene Glycol ◽

Monomethyl Ether ◽

Side Chain ◽

Alkyl Ether ◽

Thermoresponsive Polymer ◽

Water Emulsion ◽

Adsorption Performance ◽

Oil Adsorption ◽

Oil Water ◽

Porous Poly

To probe the effects of pendant side-chain structures on the properties of porous thermoresponsive polymer gels, oligo(ethylene glycol) alkyl ether acrylates were polymerised in an aqueous medium under radical-mediated phase-separation conditions. The monomer structures varied according to the lengths and termini of their ethylene glycol side chains. The porous poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) alkyl ether acrylate) (POEGA) gels exhibited variable lower critical solution temperatures (LCSTs) but similar and rapid swelling–deswelling behaviours. Although the LCST of the poly(tri(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether acrylate) (PTEGA) gel decreased with increasing aqueous NaCl or CaCl2 concentration, PTEGA showed excellent thermosensitivity in highly concentrated salt solutions, recommending its application in saline environments. Examination of PTEGA adsorption performance in an oil–water emulsion showed that n-tridecane adsorption increased with temperature. Although n-tridecane was effectively adsorbed at 70 °C, its release from the fully adsorbed PTEGA gel was difficult despite a temperature reduction from 70 to 20 °C.

Download Full-text

Soft-template synthesis of 3D porous graphene foams with tunable architectures for lithium–O2 batteries and oil adsorption applications

Journal of Materials Chemistry A ◽

10.1039/c4ta00829d ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2 (21) ◽

pp. 7973-7979 ◽

Cited By ~ 70

Author(s):

Xiaodan Huang ◽

Bing Sun ◽

Dawei Su ◽

Dongyuan Zhao ◽

Guoxiu Wang

Keyword(s):

Template Synthesis ◽

Soft Template ◽

Template Method ◽

Porous Graphene ◽

Functional Applications ◽

Oil Adsorption ◽

Graphene Foams ◽

Lithium Oxygen Batteries

We report a general emulsion soft-template method to synthesize porous graphene foams for multi-functional applications, including lithium–oxygen batteries and oil-adsorption.

Download Full-text