Impregnation of polyurethane foam with activated carbon for enhancing oil removal from water

Abstract

To enhance the oil sorption capacity of polyurethane foam, different amounts of activated carbon (0.5, 1, 2 and 3 wt%) were grafted onto the surface of polyurethane foam. The modified polyurethane foam was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and tensile elongation test. Grafting of activated carbon improved the polyurethane foam toughness and thermal resistance as revealed by tensile elongation and thermogravimetric tests, respectively. Experimental results showed the enhancement of oil sorption capacity and reduction in the water sorption in all cases. The optimal amount of activated carbon on the surface was 1 wt% which enhanced the oil sorption capacity up to 33.2 %. Reusability feature of the optimum sorbent was examined through four cycles of chemical regeneration, and about 85 % of the initial sorption capacity of the modified polyurethane foam was remained at the end. Equilibrium isotherms were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson isotherms using linear and nonlinear regression methods. The Marquardt's percent standard deviation and hybrid fractional error functions were minimized and normalized to investigate the effect of error criteria to determine the parameters of isotherms. The nonlinear method was found to be more accurate to determine the isotherm parameters, and the Langmuir isotherm was the best-fitting model.

Synthesis of poly(acrylonitrile‐co‐divinylbenzene‐co‐vinylbenzyl chloride)‐derived hypercrosslinked polymer microspheres and a preliminary evaluation of their potential for the solid‐phase capture of pharmaceuticals

“…It was also reported that activated carbon prepared from olive stones gave the highest sorption capacity for diclofenac from aqueous solutions, with maximum sorption at pH 2 . However, activated carbon applications are limited because of their poor mechanical strength, low sorption capacity, low selectivity, and incomplete regeneration . Thus, hypercrosslinked (HXL) polymers become interesting as SPE sorbents since they have high specific surface areas (above 1000 m 2 g −1 ) and tuneable chemistry, in combination with a high micropore content .…”

Synthesis and performance of different polyurethane foams as oil sorbents

“…Table shows a comparative study of the oil sorption for several polyurethane foams. Modification of the foams, as seen in some studies in the literature, is important for improving the oil sorption capacity, but it has some disadvantages, such as increasing the final cost of the material and generating substantial waste, which may hamper the large‐scale production of adsorbent materials. Therefore, this work is justified by the attempt to produce polyurethane foams that have good sorption capacity through balance of stoichiometric of additives that influence the physical and chemical properties of the material without any further chemical modification of the finished product.…”

“…In addition, there are various functional groups in the polyurethane foam structures (urethane, amide, ester, ether, urea, etc.) that allow for chemical modification of polymer …”

“…Many studies show sophisticated surface chemical treatments for obtaining foams with good sorption capacities . However, the balance stoichiometric of additives that influence the physical and chemical properties of the material and their oil sorption capacities remain unexplored.…”

Removal and Recovery of Hazardous Metal Ions from the Industrial Effluent using Waste Fish Scale Impregnated Polyurethane Foam: Voltametric Method

“…As the fish scale was dried and ground to fine powder it was necessary to provide physical support and increase the accessibility of the metal binding sites for process applications. The adsorption capacity of chitosan was increased by impregnated on polyurethane foam [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] , hence the similar base material was tested here for the dry powder of waste fish scale. In this work removal and recovery of hazardous metals such as Zn (II), Cu (II), Cd(II), Pb(II), Fe(II) and Mn(II) in industrial effluent using waste fish scale powder impregnated polyurethane foam was studied.…”