Needleless Melt-Electrospinning of Biodegradable Poly(Lactic Acid) Ultrafine Fibers for the Removal of Oil from Water.

Haoyi Li,Yi Li,Lisheng Cheng,Weimin Yang,Jing Tan

doi:10.3390/polym9020003

Abstract

As environmentally friendly and degradable material, Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) ultrafine fibers are promising candidates for the removal of oil from water. In this work, a self-established needleless melt-electrospinning process was used to produce PLA ultrafine fibers with diameters in the range of 800 nm–9 µm. In order to obtain ultrafine fibers, three types of hyperbranched polymers were respectively added into the melt for electrospinning. Effects of amount and molecular weight of the added hyperbranched polymers on average fiber diameter and its distribution, and contact angle were investigated. The prepared PLA ultrafine fibers exhibited superhydrophobicity with the contact angle as high as 156°, making it a potential candidate in marine oil spill recovery. The oil sorption capability of these fibers is as high as 159, 118, and 96 g/g for motor oil, crude oil, and diesel, respectively. Even after seven cycles of reuse, the fiber still maintained about 60% of its initial capacity of sorption. The kinetics of oil sorption in the film agrees very well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. This work is expected to promote the mass production and application of biodegradable PLA fibers in the treatment of marine oil spill pollution.

Highlights

In accidents or deliberate actions, heavy crude oil would be inevitably spilled into the environment—such as oceans, lakes, and rivers—which is a loss of oil and a disastrous damage to the aquatic life and ecological system [1,2,3]
Biodegradable Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibers have been prepared by melt electrospinning which has potential for mass production
The feasibility of melt electrospun PLA fiber and PLA/hyperbranched polymers (HBPs) composite fiber employed in oil-water separation was investigated

Summary

Introduction

In accidents or deliberate actions, heavy crude oil would be inevitably spilled into the environment—such as oceans, lakes, and rivers—which is a loss of oil and a disastrous damage to the aquatic life and ecological system [1,2,3]. Practically applicable and environmentally friendly methods or materials are in great need for the recovery of water polluted by spilled oil. The ideal oil sorbents should be highly hydrophobic, which promises the capabilities of a large amount and high rate of oil sorption. The sorbents need to be reusable, collectable, and biodegradable [7,8]. They should be buoyant and durable in aqueous media. As for materials for oil sorption, recent efforts are mainly focused on natural sorbents, high oil sorption resin, and polymer ultrafine fibers [4,9,10]. Natural sorbents—such as kapok, milkweed, and bagasse—have drawn worldwide research interests owing to Polymers 2017, 9, 3; doi:10.3390/polym9020003 www.mdpi.com/journal/polymers

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