Superhydrophobic and superoleophillic surface of porous beaded electrospun polystrene and polysytrene-zeolite fiber for crude oil-water separation

• Introduction.
• Electrospinning of EPS submicron sized fibers.
• Characterisation of film and fiber.
• Surface morphology analysis of electrospun EPS submicron fiber and EPS films.
• Wetting behaviour of electrospun EPS, EPS/Zeolite fiber and film.

This research presents a cheap route procedure for the preparation of a potential adsorbent with superhydrophobic/superoleophillic properties for selective removal of crude oil from water. In this study, expanded polystyrene (EPS) was electrospun to produce beaded fibers in which zeolite was introduced to the polymer matrix in order to impart rough surface to non-beaded fiber. Films of the EPS and EPS/Zeolite solutions were also made for comparative study. The electrospun fibers EPS, EPS/Zeolite and resultant films were characterized using SEM, BET, FTIR and optical contact angle. The fibers exhibited superhydrophobic and superoleophillic wetting properties with water (>1500) and crude oil (00). The selective removal of crude oil presents new opportunity for the re-use of EPS as adsorbent in petroleum/petrochemical industry.