Abstract
Carbon-based materials are outstanding candidates for oil spill clean-ups due to their superhydrophobicity, high surface area, chemical inertness, low density, recyclability, and selectivity. The current work deals with the fabrication of membrane oil absorbents based on carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced polystyrene (PS) nanocomposites by electrospinning technique. The spun membranes are also irradiated with the gamma radiation to induce enough crosslinks and thus good polymer-filler interactions. The structural, morphological, and surface properties in addition to the oil/water separation efficiency were investigated by varying the concentration of CNT and the dose of γ-irradiation. Fabricated nanofiber membranes show superior hydrophobicity and selective oil absorption at 0.5 wt.% of CNT concentration. The best mechanical properties are also obtained at this particular concentration and at 15 KGy optimum γ-irradiation dosage. The gamma irradiated PS/0.5 wt.% CNT membrane also exhibits good antibacterial effects against the bacteria, Escherichia coli, in the form of bacterial inhibition rings around the membranes. The present study thus shows the environmental applicability of the fabricated PS/CNT membranes in treating oil-contaminated water.
Highlights
Water and energy are the base pillars for global economic, social, and cultural development [1].Since water is the essential life element, its pollution due to oil spills and industrial effluents has turned into a global problem
PS/carbon nanotube (CNT) membrane was investigated based on the surface modification and the contact angle studies
PS/0.5 wt.% CNT membrane irradiated with gamma ray of 15 kGy was selected for the oil/water separation separationtest
Summary
Water and energy are the base pillars for global economic, social, and cultural development [1]. Experimental techniques of phase separation, chemical etching, vapor deposition, sol-gel process, and electrospinning fabricate porous superhydrophobic/superoleophilic polymer-based membranes [10]. Out of all these processing methods, the technique of electrospinning is versatile and efficient in manufacturing nanofibrous membranes with superior structure and composition [11,12,13]. CNT is widely applied in fabricating oil/water separating membranes due to their outstanding properties such as low density, good mechanical strength, hydrophobicity and high porosity [22,23,24,25]. PS/CNT membrane was investigated based on the surface modification and the contact angle studies
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