Oleophilic Polyurethane Foams for Oil Spill Cleanup

To improve the oleophilic and hydrophobic properties of polyurethane (PU) for oil spill cleanup, graft copolymerization of oleophilic monomer was performed using divinylbenzene (DVB) as the cross-linker, benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as the initiator, toluene as the solvent. The grafting reaction was carried out by placing the PU foams in toluene solutions of monomer at constant temperatures. The effects of the monomer ratio, cross-linker, initiator, polymerization time, and different grafting monomers were studied. The optimum monomer, polymerization time, initiator, cross-linker and monomer weight ratios were found to be Lauryl methacrylate (LMA), 6 h, 5% and 1.5% of PU, and the ratio of LMA to PU at 1.5, respectively. The maximum sorption obtained was 46.98 g diesel and 41.42 g kerosene per gram of modified PU. The water sorption of the modified PU decreased 50%, compared with the blank PU.