The effect of oil raw material composition in the synthesis of bio‐sorbents based on inverse vulcanization on the ability to remediate hydrocarbon‐contaminated water. A novel method for decontaminating water/fuel emulsions

FARIOLI, ANA SOFIA; MARTINEZ, MARIA VICTORIA; BARBERO, CESAR; YSLAS, EDITH; ACEVEDO, DIEGO

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE

JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Año: 2023 p. 1 - 13

0021-8995

Solid crosslinked biopolymers made by inverse vulcanization of soybean (PSB)or sunflower (PSF) oil with sulfur are characterized and tested to decontaminatewater from hydrocarbons (HC): gasoline, diesel, two lubricant oils, and water/gasoline emulsion. The physicochemical structure of the biopolymers is studiedby FTIR spectroscopy, Differential scanning calorimetry, contact angle measurement, and mechanical testing. Also, the morphological structure is analyzed byscanning electron microscopy. Moreover, the polymer decontamination capability and reusability are tested gravimetrically. Both biopolymers are formed byC S bonds, and their elastic behavior dominates. However, PSF is more hydrophilic, has a larger amount of free sulfur and a less compact structure, and alsosorbs ca. 60% more HC than PSB. The results indicate that the unsaturated feedstock has a strong effect on the polymer structure and the capacity to remediatecontaminated water or solids. Also, both materials can be reused to remediatewater for more than five consecutive cycles. In addition, inverse vulcanization ofoils and sulfur is an ecological way of obtaining environmentally-improvedmaterials with great potential and applications, providing a complete atomiceconomy and high performance to remediate water from water/HCs dispersedand, more importantly, from water/gasoline emulsions.KEYWORDSfuel emulsion decontamination, hydrocarbon water decontamination, i