Improvement in Oil Absorbency by Using Modified Carbon Nanotubes in Preparation of Oil Sorbents

摘要

This article reports the first oil-absorbent cross-linked copolymer consisting of modified multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and showing high oil absorbency. Also, to investigate and evaluate the effective parameters on oil absorbency, cross-linked dodecyl methacrylate (DDMA)-diphenylacrylamide (DPAA) and DDMA-butyl acrylate (BA) copolymers were synthesized. DDMA was copolymerized with different mol% of DPAA or BA and cross-linked using azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator and various weight percentages of 1,4-butandiol dimethacrylate, methylene bisacrylamide, or vinyl group-modified MWCNT cross-linkers. The effects of monomer feed composition, cross-linker concentration, and the hydrophobicity of the copolymer units on swelling properties of the cross-linked copolymers were studied through the oil-absorbency tests. It was found that in the reactions used vinyl group-modified MWCNTs act as cross-linking agents for the free radical polymerization, carbon nanotubes (CNT) played the other roles, that is, as a comonomer and an adsorbent. The oil absorbents containing CNTs showed the highest oil absorbency (toluene, 42.6 g; crude oil, 36.0 g/g oil absorbent). Therefore, CNT-based oil absorbent can be introduced as a promising candidate for environmental protection and oil recovery.