Preparation and Evaluation of Polymer Aerogel Adsorbents Based on Polyacrylonitrile Fibers to Remove Oil Contaminants from Seawater

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kashan, P.O. Box 8731753153, Kashan,, Iran

Abstract

Hypothesis: Spills of oil and its products into the open-waters of the world and the creation of oil slicks have become a global concern due to severe environmental and economic problems. Therefore, achieving an effective technology in cleaning up spilled oil is very important for environmental protection. One of the effective methods in separating oil stains is the use of adsorbents based on nanocomposite aerogels. The current study was carried out on the preparation of polyacrylonitrile aerogels for oil adsorption and separation of water from oil effluents, to improve the mechanical properties of aerogels due to the presence of polyacrylonitrile fibers in the aerogel structure, while extending the study on the effect of various parameters on morphology, and the porosity and percentage of aerogel oil adsorption.
Methods: Aerogels were characterized by conventional methods such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical microscopy (OM), BET, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and their density and adsorption rate were measured. Parameters such as fiber percentage, fiber length, and PVA percentage are effective on the adsorption rate, however the percentage of PVA is the most effective parameter on the adsorption rate.
Findings: The results showed that a chemical bond was formed between fibers and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and a network structure was obtained. Optimal conditions were determined as 3% by weight of polyacrylonitrile fibers, 5 mm length of polyacrylonitrile fibers and 1% by weight of PVA, in which the adsorbent was able to absorb about 1294% of oil. In addition, the specific surface area of the optimal sample was determined at 100.35 m2/g, which indicated that the prepared adsorbent could be suitable for oil adsorption.

Keywords

References

  1. Daneshmand H., Araghchi M., Karimi M., and Asgary M., Evaluation of Polymer Wettability Alteration and Adsorption of Modified Silica Nanoparticles for Enhanced Oil Recovery, Iran. J. Polym. Sci. Technol. (Persian), 33, 272-285, 2020.
  2. Abdullah M., Afzaal M., Ismail Z., Ahmad A., Nazir M., and  Bhat A., Comparative Study on Structural Modification of Ceiba Pentandra for Oil Sorption and Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment, Desalin Water Treat., 54, 3044-3053, 2015.
  3. Soliman A.G., El Naggar A.M., El-Din M.R.N., Ramadan A.M., and Youssef M.A., Optimization of Dosing and Mixing Time through Fabrication of High Internal Phase Emulsion (HIPE) Polymerization Based Adsorbents for Use in Purification of Oil in Water Contaminated Wastewater, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 49000, 2020.
  4. Kharisov B.I., Dias H.R., and Kharissova O.V., Nanotechnology-Based Remediation of Petroleum Impurities from Water, J. Pet. Sci. Eng., 122, 705-718, 2014.
  5. Lee C.H., Tiwari B., Zhang D., and Yap Y.K., Water Purification: Oil–Water Separation by Nanotechnology and Environmental Concerns, Environ. Sci. Nano, 4, 514-525, 2017.
  6. Reynolds J.G., Coronado P.R., and Hrubesh L.W., Hydrophobic Aerogels for Oil-Spill Cleanup? Intrinsic Absorbing Properties, Energy Sources, 23, 831-843, 2001.
  7. Karami D., A Review of Aerogel Applications in Adsorption and Catalysis, J. Petrol. Sci. Technol. (Persian), 8, 3-15, 2018.
  8. Zheng Q., Cai Z., and Gong S., Green Synthesis of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA)–Cellulose Nanofibril (CNF) Hybrid Aerogels and Their Use as Superabsorbents, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2, 3110-3118, 2014.
  9. Adibi M., Farkhani D., Mehdizadeh A., and  Farahi S.M., Qualitative Performance Evaluation of Tri-Block SBS and SEBS Copolymers in Removal of Oil Spill, Petroleum Res.(Persian), 20, 38-52, 2011.
  10. Yahyavi M., Khazaeian A., and Mashkour M., Studying the Properties of Polyvinyl Alcohol/Cellulose Nanofiber/Hydroxyapatite Hybrid Nanocomposite. Iran. J. Polym. Sci. Technol. (Persian), 28, 99-91, 2015.
  11. Fouad R.R., Aljohani H.A., and Shoueir K.R., Biocompatible Poly(vinyl alcohol) Nanoparticle-Based Binary Blends for Oil Spill  Control, Mar. Pollut. Bull., 112, 46-52, 2016.
  12. Zhou L. and  Xu Z., Ultralight, Highly Compressible, Hydrophobic and Anisotropic Lamellar Carbon Aerogels from Graphene/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Cellulose Nanofiber Aerogel as Oil Removing Absorbents, J. Hazard. Mater., 388, 121804, 2020.
  13. Xu Z., Jiang X., Zhou H., and Li J., Preparation of Magnetic Hydrophobic Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA)–Cellulose Nanofiber (CNF) Aerogels as Effective Oil Absorbents, Cellulose, 25, 1217-1227, 2018.
  14. Kausar A., Polyacrylonitrile-Based Nanocomposite Fibers: A Review of Current Developments, J. Plast. Film Sheeting, 35, 295-316, 2019.
  15. Liang B., Zhan W., Qi G., Lin S., Nan Q., Liu Y., Cao B., and  Pan K., High Performance Graphene Oxide/Polyacrylonitrile Composite Pervaporation Membranes for Desalination Applications, J. Mater. Chem., 3, 5140-5147, 2015.
  16. Wen Z., Wang S., Bao Z., Shi S., and  Hou W., Preparation and Oil Adsorption Performance of Polyacrylonitrile Fiber Oil Adsorption   Material, Water Air Soil Pollut., 231, 1-13, 2020.
  17. Peng Y., Guo F., Wen Q., Yang F., and Guo Z., A Novel Polyacrylonitrile Membrane with a High Flux for Emulsified Oil/Water Separation, Sep. Purif. Technol., 31, 184, 72-8, 2017
  18. Koh H.W., Le D.K., Ng G.N., Zhang X., Phan-Thien N., Kureemun U., and Duong H.M., Advanced Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate Aerogels from Plastic Waste for Acoustic and Thermal Insulation Applications, Gels, 43, 2018.
  19. ASTM F726-12, Standard Test Method for Sorbent Performance of Adsorbents, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2012.
  20. Ren Y., Tian T., Jiang L., Liu X., and Han Z., Polyvinyl Alcohol Reinforced Flame-Retardant Polyacrylonitrile Composite Fiber Prepared by Boric Acid Cross-Linking and Phosphorylation, Materials, 11, 2391, 2018.
  21. Han Z., Jin J., Wang Y., Zhang Z., Gu J., Ou M., and  Xu X., Encapsulating TiO2 into Polyvinyl Alcohol Coated Polyacrylonitrile Composite Beads for the Effective Removal of Methylene Blue, J. Braz. Chem. Soc., 30, 211-223, 2019.
  22. Kizildag N., Ucar N., Karacan I., Onen A., and  Demirsoy N., The Effect of the Dissolution Process and the Polyaniline Content on the Properties of Polyacrylonitrile–Polyaniline Composite Nanoweb, J. Ind. Text., 45, 1548-1570, 2016.
  23. Thommes M., Physical Adsorption Characterization of Nanoporous Materials, Chem. Ing. Tech., 82, 1059-1073, 2010.
  24. Sangwichien C., Aranovich G., and Donohue M., Density Functional Theory Predictions of Adsorption Isotherms with Hysteresis Loops, Colloids Surf. A: Physicochem. Eng. Asp., 206, 313-320, 2002.
  25. https://www.alibaba.com
  26. https://www.absorbentsonline.com/oilonlypadsrolls.htm

 

Iranian Journal of Polymer Science and Technology
Volume 34, Issue 3 - Serial Number 173
September and October 2021
Pages 299-311

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics