Abstract
A single-step synthesis of super-water-repellent oil sorbents based on cellulose acetate (CA) mats is reported in this paper. Key phenomenological mechanisms involving roughness and changes in chemistry are used to describe the change in hydrophobic behavior of the CA mats. Contact angle calculations followed by Cassie’s model apparent contact angle prediction have shown roughness alone is not capable of producing the super-hydrophobicity exhibited by as-spun mats. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of spin coated and electrospun mats shows a significant difference in the stretching of the hydroxyl bonds of the two materials. As it is this hydroxyl group which adds to the overall polarity of surface thus hydrophilicity of the material, we propose that the electrospinning process not only creates a rougher surface but also alters the chemistry of the electrospun cellulose acetate mats which ultimately gives rise to the reported hydrophobicity. Finally, due to their water repellent nature, and oleophilicity of the as-spun mats were tested as oil sorbent mats. The as-spun mats were capable of absorbing thirty times their weight in oil demonstrating their application for oil-water remediation.
Highlights
For a material to be considered super hydrophobic, it must display an apparent water contact angle of more than 150° and low contact angle hysteresis[1]
Examples of methods and materials used for coatings on a roughened electrospun surfaces are TEOS:DTMS through sol-gel[15], CF4 coating through Plasma Treatment[16], PPFEMA coating using Chemical Vapor Deposition[17] and Layer by Layer (LBL) fluorination of the surface[18] and so on
Cellulose Acetate electrospun mats were fabricated through the electrospinning process
Summary
A single-step synthesis of super-water-repellent oil sorbents based on cellulose acetate (CA) mats is reported in this paper. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of spin coated and electrospun mats shows a significant difference in the stretching of the hydroxyl bonds of the two materials As it is this hydroxyl group which adds to the overall polarity of surface hydrophilicity of the material, we propose that the electrospinning process creates a rougher surface and alters the chemistry of the electrospun cellulose acetate mats which gives rise to the reported hydrophobicity. Due to their water repellent nature, and oleophilicity of the as-spun mats were tested as oil sorbent mats. Experiments were run in triplicate from two different surfaces and the results were normalized
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