Highly Washable and Reusable Green Nanofibrous Sorbent with Superoleophilicity, Biodegradability, and Mechanical Robustness

Abstract

Dealing with the aftermath of a disastrous oil spill proves to be challenging with the current remedies as it poses issues of secondary pollution, low oil recovery, and nonbiodegradability. Hereby, a series of green poly(lactic acid)/ poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PLA/PHB) nanofibrous membranes with uniform 400−700 nm average diameters were successfully fabricated through a simple and scalable electrospinning process. The incorporation of the designed PHB-rubber filler, PHB-di-rub, into PLA green biocomposite contributed to a roughened nanofiber surface and displayed excellent oleophilic−hydrophobic surface wettability due to its complex nanofibrous structure with high surface area and surface roughness. The highly extensive and aligned nanofibers simultaneously improved both the stiffness and strength of the green nanofibrous membranes due to strong filler−matrix interaction and highly stretched nanofibers during deformation, with close to 6-fold enhancement in the elongation and 30-fold increment in toughness, in conjunction with a tensile strength > 4 MPa. The resultant green nanofibrous membranes show huge potential as a sorbent as they absorb up to 15 times their weight in oils and also display promising usage in an oil-in-water emulsion. Remarkably, these green, non-cytotoxic, biocompatible sorbent materials are highly washable and reusable as the adsorbed oil could be easily washed off by common organic solvents and subsequently air-dried instantaneously at ambient temperature, demonstrating the excellent reusability, recyclability, and oil recovery. These exceptionally toughened and durable green PLA/PHB nanofibrous membranes show tremendous potential as an effective and efficient sorbent to wrestle with an oil spillage disaster without posing secondary pollution to our environment.

Rapid One-Step Fabrication of Graphene Oxide-Decorated Polycaprolactone Three-Dimensional Templates for Water Treatment

“…Moreover, they even showed excellent reusability, intended as retention of both sorption capacity and structural properties, and high efficiency in low energy recovery of phenol contaminants from aqueous solutions. All of these aspects fulfill the latest water treatment requirements in full compliance with the novel design guidelines inspired by circular economy and zero waste, thus paving the road for the realization of next generation materials for water technology …”

“…All of these aspects fulfill the latest water treatment requirements in full compliance with the novel design guidelines inspired by circular economy and zero waste, thus paving the road for the realization of next generation materials for water technology. 58…”

A Role for Newly Developed Sorbents in Remediating Large‐Scale Oil Spills: Reviewing Recent Advances and Beyond

“…Porous sorbent exhibits an adsorption mechanism with sorption mostly occurring on substrate surfaces with limited sorption capacity (Figure 4A). [118][119][120][121][122][123] In the past decade, many research efforts has been devoted to developing new sorbent materials with some success. Specifically, the hierarchically porous structure of sorbent can hold some these viscous oils which results in a high oil sorption capacity.…”

Fabrication of a High-Performance and Reusable Planar Face Mask in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…To meet the critical and intensifying demand for masks, researchers and industry professionals have made great efforts to address the mask shortage and to enhance the protection afforded by existing masks [11] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] . These efforts include ① developing alternative materials with sufficient filtration efficiency [26] , [27] , [28] ; ② developing and engineering multifunctional masks with hydrophobic, antimicrobial, and self-disinfecting properties [29] , [30] , [31] ; ③ optimizing the design of masks for better protection, breathability, and user comfort [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] ; and ④ exploring new technologies for the efficient production and customization of masks, such as three-dimensional (3D) printing [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] . Even so, as newly reported cases of COVID-19 are increasing sharply to approximately 0.5 million per day [1] , a huge demand for face masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) is expected for the winter in the northern hemisphere.…”