Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Polymer Research, Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2V 0E6, Canada.
Macromol Rapid Commun. 2024 Aug;45(16):e2400232. doi: 10.1002/marc.202400232. Epub 2024 Jun 12.
Polymeric foamed materials are among the most widely utilized technologies for oil spill accidents and releases of oil-contaminated wastewater oil due to their porosity to absorb and separate oil/water effectively. However, a major limitation of traditional polymeric foams is their reliance on an ad/absorption mechanism as the sole method of oil capture, leading to potential oil leakage once their saturation point is exceeded. Tri-block polymer styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) is a fascinating absorbent material that can bypass this limitation by both capturing oil and providing a sealing mechanism via gelation to prevent oil leakage due to its unique chemical structure. SEBS foams are produced via simultaneous crosslinking and foaming that results in an impressive expansion ratio of up to 15.2 with over 93% porosity. Most importantly, the SEBS foams show great potential as oil absorbents in spill remediation, demonstrating rapid and efficient oil absorption coupled with superhydrophobic properties. Moreover, the unique interaction between the oil and SEBS enables the formation of a physical gel, acting as an effective barrier against oil leakage. These findings indicate the potential for commercializing SEBS foam as a viable option for geotextiles to mitigate oil spill concerns from infrastructures.
聚合物发泡材料因其多孔性而被广泛应用于溢油事故和含油污水的排放，能够有效地吸收和分离油/水。然而，传统聚合物泡沫的一个主要局限性是它们依赖于吸附/吸收机制作为唯一的吸油方法，一旦超过其饱和点，就有可能发生漏油。三嵌段聚合物苯乙烯-乙烯-丁烯-苯乙烯（SEBS）是一种很有吸引力的吸收材料，它可以通过凝胶化提供一种密封机制来捕捉油，从而避免因独特的化学结构而导致的漏油，从而克服这一限制。SEBS 泡沫是通过同时交联和发泡生产的，其膨胀比高达 15.2，孔隙率超过 93%。最重要的是，SEBS 泡沫作为溢油补救中的吸油剂具有很大的潜力，表现出快速高效的吸油能力和超疏油性。此外，油和 SEBS 之间的独特相互作用形成了物理凝胶，有效地阻止了油的泄漏。这些发现表明，SEBS 泡沫作为一种可行的土工织物选项，具有商业化潜力，可以减轻基础设施溢油问题。
