C-shaped porous polypropylene fibers for rapid oil absorption and effective on-line oil spillage monitoring

Zheng Li; Fei Jiang; Guojun Jiang; Fuyou Chen; Hui Ma; Yawen Zhao; Zhijuan Sun; Xiangyu Ye; Congjie Gao; Lixin Xue

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131332

C-shaped porous polypropylene fibers for rapid oil absorption and effective on-line oil spillage monitoring

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Jun 15:452:131332. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131332. Epub 2023 Mar 30.

Authors

Zheng Li¹, Fei Jiang¹, Guojun Jiang², Fuyou Chen¹, Hui Ma¹, Yawen Zhao¹, Zhijuan Sun¹, Xiangyu Ye¹, Congjie Gao¹, Lixin Xue³

Affiliations

¹ Center for Membrane Separation and Water Science & Technology, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China.
² Zhijiang College, Zhejiang University of Technology, Shaoxing 312000, China. Electronic address: jgj@zzjc.edu.cn.
³ Center for Membrane Separation and Water Science & Technology, College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310014, China; Zhijiang College, Zhejiang University of Technology, Shaoxing 312000, China; College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325035, China. Electronic address: xuelx@zjut.edu.cn.

PMID: 37004442
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131332

Abstract

Development of efficient absorbent materials for detection and treatment of offshore oil spillages remained a challenge. In this work, C-shaped polypropylene oil-absorbent fibers with sub-micron internal pores were prepared by combining spun-bonding technique and thermally induced phase separation (TIPS). The effect of drawing speed on the phase separation and the porous morphology of the shaped fiber non-woven fabric (NWF) was investigated. C-shaped NWF with porous morphology had large water contact angle, higher porosity, larger specific surface area, and increased oil absorption speed and capacity. An online oil spillage detection system was developed using porous C-shaped NWF and an oxygen sensing probe, showing shorter response time and higher signal-to-noise (STN) ratio. The response time for detecting the spillage of soybean oil and diluted crude oil (0.5 mL/0.8 L) in water were only 24 s and 10 s, respectively. The reliable oil detection low detection limit (RLDL) of the oxygen sensing probe was reduced 173 times (from 36.5 g/L to 0.21 g/L) when combined with C-shaped porous fiber NWF.

Keywords: Oil absorption; Online spillage detection; Porous fiber; Shaped cross-section; Spun-bond.