Removal of oils and organic solvents from wastewater through swelling of porous crosslinked poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate): Preparation of adsorbent and their oil removal efficiency

Abstract

In this novel study, an attempt has been made to prepare porous crosslinked poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) polymer (C-EVA). The porous C-EVA was prepared by grafting of maleic anhydride and cetyl alcohol onto the polymer backbone with addition of NaCl as porogen in the brabender mixture at 120 °C and 80 rpm. This was followed by leaching of NaCl with water extraction to generate a highly porous polymer structure which was evident from its SEM micrographs. The polymer was found to have excellent swelling capacity in various oils and organic solvents and showed good selective absorption capacity. The reusability of the synthesized polymer was studied and it was found that it could be reused for more than 30 absorption desorption cycles without undergoing much change in its absorption capacity. The cross-linked polymeric composite was further characterized by FTIR, TGA, XRD, and SEM.