Oil absorbent based on lauryl methacrylate grafting onto cellulose of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

Abstract

In this article, a novel oil‐absorbent polymer was synthesized by graft polymerization of lauryl methacrylate (LMA) onto water hyacinth (WH) using 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator and divinyl benzene (DVB) as a crosslinking agent. The effects of initiator content, LMA content, reaction temperature, reaction time, and crosslinker content on the superabsorbent polymer were investigated. The prepared graft copolymer WH‐g‐LMA was analyzed using FTIR, SEM, XRD, and TGA. In the presence of the better cross‐linker DVB (1.5%) and contact time of about 25 min, the maximal Q (oil sorption capacity) of co‐polymer towards crude and Soybean oils is 23.68 and 25.72 g g−1, respectively. The Q is reduced when sorbent dosage increased, but it increases with increasing the temperature and reaches a maximum of 40 °C. The reusability of co‐polymer is characteristic of 7 sorption/desorption cycles.