Institute of Chemical Sciences, University of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 25120, Pakistan.
Institute of Chemical Sciences, University of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 25120, Pakistan.
J Environ Manage. 2022 Oct 1;319:115690. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115690. Epub 2022 Jul 11.
Due to the environmental and production problems of emulsion, it is important to efficiently separate oil-water emulsion to meet the refinery requirement and clean up oil spills. Synthesis of a universal demulsifier is not an easy task because the physical properties of crude oil vary, which makes its characterization and demulsification procedure difficult. To overcome this problem, hydrophilic and magnetically recoverable poly (methyl methacrylate-acrylic acid)/iron oxide magnetic composite nanoparticles ((P(MMA-AA)/FeO NPs) were developed as an efficient and economical demulsifier via soap-free emulsion polymerization. To characterize the magnetic composite NPs for their appropriate surface morphology and magnetic domain, TEM, FTIR, VSM, and TGA analyses were carried out. The newly synthesized NPs displayed good hydrophilic properties as they migrated quickly to the aqueous emulsion phase, which was also reassured by their water contact angle of 75°. They exhibit strong magnetic characteristics (20 amu/g) in the oil-water emulsion, makings the hydrophilic wettability capable and attractive to the external magnet. Experimental results revealed that the prepared magnetic composite NPs separated 99% of the water from stable emulsion in 30 min and could be recycled 8 times through magnetic separation. The recycled magnetic composite NPs maintain their hydrophilic wettability and efficiency in separating oil-water emulsion, making them economical and commercially viable. The migration of magnetic composite NPs to the aqueous phase in the stable emulsion with a strong magnetic domain explains the coalescence of emulsified water droplets and their quick separation from the stable emulsions through the external magnet.
由于乳液存在环境和生产问题，因此高效分离油水乳液以满足炼油要求和清理溢油非常重要。合成通用破乳剂并非易事，因为原油的物理性质各不相同，这使得其特性和破乳过程变得困难。为了解决这个问题，通过无皂乳液聚合合成了亲水性和可磁回收的聚（甲基丙烯酸甲酯-丙烯酸）/氧化铁磁性复合纳米粒子（(P(MMA-AA)/FeO NPs)）作为高效且经济的破乳剂。为了表征磁性复合纳米粒子的适当表面形态和磁畴，进行了 TEM、FTIR、VSM 和 TGA 分析。新合成的纳米粒子表现出良好的亲水性，因为它们迅速迁移到水乳液相中，其水接触角为 75°也证实了这一点。它们在油水乳液中表现出强磁性（20 amu/g），使得亲水性润湿性能够并吸引外部磁铁。实验结果表明，所制备的磁性复合纳米粒子在 30 分钟内可将稳定乳液中的 99%的水分分离出来，并且可以通过磁分离回收 8 次。回收的磁性复合纳米粒子在分离油水乳液方面保持其亲水性润湿性和效率，使其具有经济性和商业可行性。磁性复合纳米粒子在具有强磁畴的稳定乳液中迁移到水相，解释了乳化水滴的聚结以及通过外部磁铁快速从稳定乳液中分离的过程。
