The fabrication of 3D porous PDMS sponge for Oil and organic solvent absorption

Abstract

The separation of oil–water mixtures is increasingly desired due to the environmental protection and industrial production. However, the low‐oil capacity and complicated procedures in current systems remain challenging issues. Herein, porous polydimethysiloxane (PDMS) sponges are fabricated by polymerization of the prepolymer and a curing agent with the combination of NaHCO3 foaming and CO2 template method, which is novel, simple, and economical. EDS and XPS measurements prove the successful fabrication of PDMS sponges. This as‐prepared PDMS sponges show high absorption capacity (694–2513%), hydrophobicity/oleophilicity property (water contact angle and oil contact angle are 139° and 0°), and excellent thermal property. The PDMS sponges can selectively absorb a large amount of floating oils on the water surface and heavy oils under the water, and show little change of its capacities after 20 absorbing/reabsorbing cycles. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38: S86–S92, 2019

Magnetic Field Triggerable Macroporous PDMS Sponge Loaded with an Anticancer Drug, 5-Fluorouracil

“…Porous polymer structures have been widely developed in various technological areas, such as membranes for separation and purification, water desalination, hemodialysis, scaffolds for tissue engineering, solid supports for biosensors, biomedicines, and catalysts. , Among them, soft elastomers (like natural rubber, polyimide, and silicone rubber) have been used as magnetically responsive materials because through designing different microstructures, several functions could be achieved. , There are many advantages of silicon rubber, like low viscosity, thermostability, chemical stability, and high tendency to form linear structures . Porous silicones are commercially available with low surface tension, high wetting ability, and good recyclability . These properties make them good candidates for medical and pharmaceutical applications.…”

“…These properties make them good candidates for medical and pharmaceutical applications. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), one of the most commonly used silicone polymers, has been widely employed in biomedical applications such as surgical implants, pacemaker encapsulants, catheters, and contact lenses . A porous PDMS structure could be used as a microfilter and porous microchannels for gas sensors in microfluidic systems .…”

“…A porous PDMS structure could be used as a microfilter and porous microchannels for gas sensors in microfluidic systems . It has been proven that the PDMS sponge is a kind of porous and hydrophobic polymer with attractive features like large absorption capacity, high porosity, lightweight, low density, low surface tension, good elasticity (to be bent to any shape), repeated compressibility (in either air or liquids without collapsing), and excellent recyclability. − Additionally, the PDMS sponge shows a superior thermal property between 0 and 400 °C, so it is stable in actual experimental conditions . Although PDMS sponges possess these suitable properties, the silicon substrate is not biodegradable and the activation of drug release from traditional devices is not reversible .…”

“…Although PDMS sponges possess these suitable properties, the silicon substrate is not biodegradable and the activation of drug release from traditional devices is not reversible . Therefore, PDMS was selected as the scaffold material for fabricating the sponges with stochastic porous structures in this study because of its special properties such as chemical inertness, thermal stability, biocompatibility, low toxicity, high flexibility, nonflammability, ease of fabrication, low manufacturing costs, optical transparency, and gas permeability. ,,,, …”

“…There are many approaches to fabricating porous PDMS structures, like templating with self-assembled colloidal microspheres, emulsion polymerization, surface treatment using a CO 2 -pulsed laser, phase separation, one-pot method with the reaction of NaHCO 3 and HCl, NaCl microparticles templating with dimethicone, and suspension polymerization with gelatin as the surfactant. ,, However, these methods are expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to manipulate the shapes and sizes of porous structures because of sophisticated fabrication procedures. , Zhao et al pointed out that PDMS sponges must be washed repeatedly with ethanol and dichloromethane to remove the NaCl microparticles completely, which is not the case when sugar was used . Furthermore, the porosity of sponges made from salt molds is lower because the thick pore wall decreased significantly, and the compressive modulus is higher.…”