Experimental Design Optimization of Castor Oil,Phthalic Anhydride, and Glycerin MagneticNanocomposites Useful as Oil Spill Cleanup Tool

摘要

Experimental design technique (DoE) is applied to determine the bestchemical composition of alkyd resins used as a matrix in magnetizablecomposites, which are an excellent tool in aquatic environmental cleanupprocesses. The alkyd resins are obtained from phthalic anhydride, castor oil,and glycerin, a byproduct of biodiesel production, that makes this kind ofmatrix ecologically friendly polymeric materials. Maghemite nanoparticles areused as filler in the prepared magnetizable composites. Obtained materialsare characterized using wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), small angle X-rayscattering (SAXS), infrared spectroscopy with Fourier transformed (FTIR),and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). Besides, magnetic force test andoil removal capability test, which is the most important property in this case,are also performed. According to experimental results, melt mixing processused to prepare these nanocomposites do not change the monodomains sizeof the nanoparticles. On the other hand, the nanocomposites presentmagnetic force higher than the one from the pure maghemite, probably dueto a better distribution of the nanoparticles inside the matrix. Also,composites present an excellent oil cleanup capability, since, in the best case,1g of the hybrid material is able to remove more than 20g of the oil fromthe water.