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A green approach to modify surface properties of polyurethane foam for enhanced oil absorption

Ng, Zhi Chien and Roslan, Rosyiela Azwa and Lau, Woei Jye and Gürsoy, Mehmet and Karaman, Mustafa and Jullok, Nora and Ismail, Ahmad Fauzi (2020) A green approach to modify surface properties of polyurethane foam for enhanced oil absorption. Polymers, 12 (9). pp. 1-14. ISSN 2073-4360

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/POLYM12091883

Abstract

The non-selective property of conventional polyurethane (PU) foam tends to lower its oil absorption efficiency. To address this issue, we modified the surface properties of PU foam using a rapid solvent-free surface functionalization approach based on the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method to establish an extremely thin yet uniform coating layer to improve foam performance. The PU foam was respectively functionalized using different monomers, i.e., perfluorodecyl acrylate (PFDA), 2,2,3,4,4,4-hexafluorobutyl acrylate (HFBA), and hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO), and the effect of deposition times (1, 5 and 10 min) on the properties of foam was investigated. The results showed that all the modified foams demonstrated a much higher water contact angle (i.e., greater hydrophobicity) and greater absorption capacities compared to the control PU foam. This is due to the presence of specific functional groups, e.g., fluorine (F) and silane (Si) in the modified PU foams. Of all, the PU/PHFBAi foam exhibited the highest absorption capacities, recording 66.68, 58.15, 53.70, and 58.38 g/g for chloroform, acetone, cyclohexane, and edible oil, respectively. These values were 39.19-119.31% higher than that of control foam. The promising performance of the PU/PHFBAi foam is due to the improved surface hydrophobicity attributed to the original perfluoroalkyl moieties of the HFBA monomer. The PU/PHFBAi foam also demonstrated a much more stable absorption performance compared to the control foam when both samples were reused for up to 10 cycles. This clearly indicates the positive impact of the proposed functionalization method in improving PU properties for oil absorption processes.

Item Type:Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:CVD, oil absorption, PU foam, surface modification, water
Subjects:T Technology > TP Chemical technology
Divisions:Chemical and Energy Engineering
ID Code:91447
Deposited By: Yanti Mohd Shah
Deposited On:30 Jun 2021 12:16
Last Modified:30 Jun 2021 12:16

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