In this paper, a reusable macroporous high oil absorption resin for oil spills was synthesized successfully by suspension copolymerization with styrene and butyl methacrylate as monomers. In the process of suspension copolymerization, a porogenic agent was introduced into the reaction system. Structure and surface morphology of the macroporous resin were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. In addition, effects of different reaction factors on density and particle size of macroporous resins and effects of various factors on the oil absorbency of macroporous resins were discussed. Furthermore, oil absorption kinetics and repeatability of resin and the absorbency of the macroporous resin in various oils were also studied. Compared with the resin without macroporous structure, the maximum oil absorbency of the macroporous resin to the carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) was 28.28 g/g, which increased by 61.42%. Meanwhile, the saturated oil absorption time of resin also decreased significantly from 7.5 to 2 hr. The macroporous high oil absorption resin presents predominant performance of reuse and regeneration. Moreover, the macroporous resin had certain absorbency (8.7 g/g) to crude oil, which makes it useful for marine oil spill. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hydrophobic and nanoporous chitosan–silica composite aerogels with low density, high porosity, and superior oil absorbency were successfully prepared by a typical sol–gel method and a two-step hydrophobic treatment. The morphologies, porosity characteristics, mechanical properties, thermal stability, hydrophobicity, and oil absorbencies of the composite aerogels were systematically investigated. The nitrogen physisorption analysis showed that composite aerogels had large specific surface areas and uniform nanoporous structures. In addition, the composite aerogels could support 7000 times its own weight; this indicated the role of the supporting skeleton played by chitosan. The hydrophobicity and lipophilicity was demonstrated with a water contact angle of 137° and an oil contact angle of 0°. Importantly, the composite aerogel with 20 wt % chitosan had a relatively high oil absorbency of 30 g/g and could be reused up to 10 times. Therefore, the chitosan–silica composite aerogels in this study had a broad prospect to be used as efficient and recyclable oil absorbents. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41770.

A high-oil-absorption resin of a ternary copolymer for the absorption of oil spills was successfully prepared by suspension polymerization, and characterizations of the oil-absorption resin were also examined in this study. The high-oil-absorption resin, a ternary copolymerized long-chain polyacrylate with styrene (St), butyl methacrylate (BMA), and stearyl methacrylate (SMA) as the monomers and synthesized by suspension polymerization, was introduced. The oil-absorption resin of St/BMA/SMA was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. The particle morphology of the resin was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The effects of different polymerization technological parameters, such as the mass ratios of the monomer, the benzoyl peroxide initiator, and the crosslinking agent of divinylbenzene; the sort and concentrations of the dispersing agent of hydroxyl ethyl cellulose, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, and gelatin, and the polymerization temperature, on the oil absorbency of St/BMA/SMA are discussed in detail. The optimum polymerization conditions of the St/BMA/SMA copolymer were obtained as follows: m_St/m_monomer = 50 wt %, m_BMA/m_{soft monomer} = 60 wt %, m_water/m_oil = 3:1, m_DVB/m_monomer = 1.0 wt %, m_BPO/m_monomer = 1.5 wt %, m_HEC/m_monomer = 0.07 wt %, m_SDBS/m_monomer = 0.03 wt %, m_gelatin/m_monomer = 0.14 wt % (where m is the mass), temperature = 85°C. With increasing content of these factors, the oil absorbency increased at first and then decreased. Compared with binary copolymer St/BMA prepared in previous research, the highest oil absorbencies to dichloromethane were 12.80 and 23.00 g/g in the St/BMA and St/BMA/SMA copolymers, respectively. St/BMA/SMA had a higher oil absorbency and faster oil-adsorbing rate than St/BMA. The oil absorption in the oil–water mixture and the recovery of the resin were also studied in detail. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40180.

Monodispersed polyacrylonitrile (PAN) microspheres shape have been successfully synthesized by dispersion polymerization in the presence of polyvinylpyrolidone (PVP) as stabilizer. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Particle Size and Distribution Analyzer were used to characterize the morphology and dispersibility of PAN microspheres, respectively. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) were applied to characterize the structure of PAN. Finally, the crystallinity of PAN microspheres was investigated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The results show that PAN microspheres have a regular sphere shape and narrow dispersity with a monodispersity index of 1.17. The crystallization of PAN and the existence of PVP layer affect the morphology of PAN microspheres. The effects of various polymerization factors on the particle size distribution of PAN microspheres have also been studied. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012

In this study, we prepared novel amphiphilic phenyl–polysucrose microspheres by a two-step pathway. Crosslinked polysucrose microspheres were synthesized with soluble polysucrose and epichlorohydrin by inversed suspension polymerization first. Then, phenyl–polysucrose microspheres were obtained through the reaction between the polysucrose microspheres and glycidyl phenyl ether. Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy proved that the microspheres had both hydroxyl groups and phenyl ligands. The quantitative determination of the phenyl groups indicated the optimal conditions for synthesis of the phenyl–polysucrose microspheres. The properties of the phenyl–polysucrose beads showed that the dry density increased from 1.38 to 2.29 g/mL, the equilibrium water content decreased from 77.30 to 33.68%, and the hydroxyl content remained at about 41.70 mmol/g when the phenyl content was increased from 0.00 to 2.64 mmol/g. The results of protein adsorption showed that the saturated adsorption capacities of the phenyl–polysucrose microspheres increased with increasing ion strength compared with the polysucrose microspheres. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009

A novel route to synthesize crosslinked porous polyvinylamine (PVAm) microspheres from acrylonitrile (AN) was developed. In the first step, crosslinked porous polyacrylonitrile (PAN) spheres were prepared by copolymerization of AN and divinylbenzene (DVB). Then they were hydrolyzed to form polyacrylamide (PAM) spheres. And lastly, the porous PVAm spheres were successfully obtained via Hofmann degradation of PAM spheres. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) indicated that these PVAm microspheres have rough surfaces and porous interior structure. The pore size, the amino content, and the content of equilibrium water were also investigated. The pore size of these PVAm microspheres increased with the hydrolytic process. The contents of equilibrium water was changed from 49.6 to 96.5% depending on the different crosslinking degrees, and the amino contents were varied between 9.60 and 15.30 mmol/g depending on the different molar ratio of n(NaClO)/n(NaOH). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 1674–1682, 2008