ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Acrylate copolymer-based super oil absorption resins: effects of steric hindrance of the monomer

Feng Zhou, Jie Zhang, Peng-fei Xie, and Yu Li

Shanghai Fire Research Institute of MEM, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

E-mail: yuli2012@mail.xjtu.edu.cn

Received: 2 September 2019  Accepted: 12 November 2019

Abstract:

This work reports the relationship between monomer composition of typical acrylate copolymers and their oil absorption behaviors, considering the steric effects of isobornyl methacrylate (IBOMA) or reactive silica nanoparticles. With a molar ratio of stearyl acrylate (SA): butyl acrylate (BA): IBOMA = 1:1.2:0.3, the random copolymers exhibited absorbency of more than 30 mL/g for benzene, xylene, and other common fuel oils. The copolymers of SA and BA synthesized in the presence of 2% reactive silica nanoparticles (R-SiO₂) showed further improvement in oil absorbency, reaching 39.5 mL/g, 43.6 mL/g, and 40.7 mL/g for benzene, xylene, and CCl₄, respectively. Compared to copolymers of SA and BA, copolymers formed using IBOMA or R-SiO₂ mainly hindered the diffusion of viscous oils such as kerosene or diesel, leading to decrease in absorption rate. All the prepared copolymers exhibited oil retention up to 99% for gasoline, kerosene, and CCl₄ after saturation of absorption, after centrifugation at 3000 rpm for 5 min, which is attractive for practical applications.

Keywords: Oil absorption resin; Acrylate copolymers; Steric effects; Isobornyl methacrylate; Reactive silica nanoparticles

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-019-00997-2

Chemical Papers 74 (5) 1477–1486 (2020)