Abstract
The accumulation of plastic waste poses a long-term threat to the environment, while oil pollution causes immediate and serious damage. In this study, we proposed a method to repurpose poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), one of the most abundant plastics, into an oil sorbent. By mixing and crosslinking with polyethylene glycol (PEG) using hexamethylene diisocyanate trimer (HDIT), the PET can be reformed as a porous sponge with high porosity and moderate mechanical strength. The sponge can absorb floating oil from water with a capacity of up to 22 g/g, demulsify O/W emulsions of different oil contents (1–4 %) with efficiencies of over 97 %, and have a high flux (∼726.7 L·m−2·h−1) under gravity. The sponge prepared with recycled PET materials shows identical mechanical properties and oil-water separation efficiencies. This work demonstrates a sustainable and promising approach to simultaneously managing plastic waste and addressing various oil pollutions, aligning also with the principles of a circular economy.
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