Superhydrophobic/ superoleophilic polystyrene-based porous material with superelasticity for highly efficient and continuous oil/water separation in harsh environments

Chunxia Zhao; Hongxia Xie; Haoran Huang; Yi Cai; Zhuo Chen; Jinbo Cheng; Dong Xiang; Dong Li; Zhenyu Li; Yuanpeng Wu

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134566

Superhydrophobic/ superoleophilic polystyrene-based porous material with superelasticity for highly efficient and continuous oil/water separation in harsh environments

J Hazard Mater. 2024 Jul 5:472:134566. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134566. Epub 2024 May 11.

Authors

Chunxia Zhao¹, Hongxia Xie², Haoran Huang³, Yi Cai², Zhuo Chen², Jinbo Cheng⁴, Dong Xiang⁴, Dong Li², Zhenyu Li⁴, Yuanpeng Wu⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of New Energy and Materials, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China; The Center of Functional Materials for Working Fluids of Oil and Gas Field, Sichuan Engineering Technology Research Center of Basalt Fiber Composites Development and Application, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China. Electronic address: polychem2011@hotmail.com.
² School of New Energy and Materials, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China.
³ School of New Energy and Materials, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China. Electronic address: HuangHaoran0805@163.com.
⁴ School of New Energy and Materials, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China; The Center of Functional Materials for Working Fluids of Oil and Gas Field, Sichuan Engineering Technology Research Center of Basalt Fiber Composites Development and Application, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China.
⁵ School of New Energy and Materials, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China; The Center of Functional Materials for Working Fluids of Oil and Gas Field, Sichuan Engineering Technology Research Center of Basalt Fiber Composites Development and Application, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China. Electronic address: ypwu@swpu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38743973
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134566

Abstract

Three-dimensional separation materials with robust physical/chemical stability have great demand for effective and continuous separation of immiscible oil/water mixtures and water-in-oil emulsions, resulting from chemical leakages and discharge of industrial oily wastewaters. Herein, a superelastic polystyrene-based porous material with superhydrophobicity/superoleophilicity was designed and prepared by high internal phase emulsion polymerization to meet the aforementioned requirements. A flexible and hydrophobic aminopropyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane (NH₂-PDMS-NH₂) segment was introduced into the rigid styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer through 1, 4-conjugate addition reaction with trimethylolpropane triacrylate. The addition of NH₂-PDMS-NH₂ simultaneously improved the mechanical and hydrophobic properties of the porous material (the water contact angle from 141.2° to 152.2°). The material exhibited outstanding reversible compressibility (80% strain, even in liquid N₂ environments) and superhydrophobic stability, even after being repeatedly compressed 100 times, water contact angle still remained above 150°. Meanwhile, the as-prepared material had outstanding hydrophobic stability in corrosive solutions (strong acidic, alkaline, high-salty, and even strong polar solvent), presence of mechanical interference, strong UV radiations, and high/low temperature environments. More importantly, the material could continuously and efficiently separate immiscible oil/water mixture and water-in-oil emulsions under the above conditions, showing huge potential for the large-scale remediation of complex oily wastewaters.

Keywords: Continuous oil/water separation; Environmental suitability; High internal phase emulsion; Superelastic porous material; Superhydrophobicity.