Quantitative Effects of Synthesis Conditions on Oil Absorptive Properties of Oil Gels Based on EPDM/4-tert-Butylstyrene

摘要

The oil absorption properties of porous polymeric gels are dependent on their synthesis conditions. In this work, we have investigated whether it is feasible to find a quantitative relationship between the synthesis conditions of porous poly(EDPM/4-tert-Butylstyrene) gels and their behavior in the kerosene absorption through a factorial design of experiments. For this purpose, a series of such oil gels have been synthesized in toluene with various divinylbenzene (DVB) and EPDM contents. The kerosene absorbency and kerosene-absorption kinetics of oil gels were determined. Finally, empirical models correlating the synthesis conditions with the kerosene absorbency (Qeq) and kerosene- absorption kinetic constant (K) were calculated; it was observed that lower the DVB concentration and higher the EPDM fraction in the monomeric mixtures, the higher the kerosene absorbency. With regard to the kerosene-absorption kinetics, the largest K value was achieved with the lowest DVB concentration and the highest EPDM fraction.