Synthesis of sustainable poly(S-Abietic-co-Pinene) through inverse vulcanization of Kurdica gum and used to fabricate durable and recyclable super-hydrophobic cotton wool filter: Oil-water separation application

Abstract

The renewable and sustainable poly(S-Abietic-co-Pinene) with a high sulfur content was synthesized by inverse vulcanization of elemental sulfur and natural kurdica gum (extracted from the Pistacia atlantica tree). This hydrophobic polysulfide (KPS) is dip-coated on cotton wool to obtain a super-hydrophobic filter with a water contact angle of 165°. All polysulfide and coated filters are characterized by the FTIR, 13CNMR, TGA, SEM, X-ray map, EDX, and WCA. The 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilan (APTES) reagent was used to enhance the adhesive forces between cotton and the KPS coating. The super-hydrophobic cotton-KPS wool filters were conducted for six bi-phasic oil-water separations. The high separation efficiencies and permeate fluxes as well as the 100% rejection of the aqueous phase are advantages of cotton-KPS wool filters. Also, no significant change was observed in the separation efficiency after 20 recycling numbers, implying the high durability and stability of the super-hydrophobic coating on the cotton-KPS filter. The use of renewable natural materials for the synthesis of novel polymers and the fabrication of robust super-hydrophobic filters for oil water separation can be based on green chemistry and sustainable development principles.