Oil absorbency of cellulose/butylmethacrylate graft polymer fibers

Cotton pulp cellulose and butyl methacrylate were used as the main raw materials to synthesize cellulose/butylmethacrylate graft polymer (Cell-g-PBMA) via homogeneous ATRP method, after which the graft polymer was dissolved in N,N-dimethylacetamide to prepare a spinning solution, and the novel oil-absorbent Cell-g-PBMA graft polymer fibers were spun by wet-spinning method. The morphology of the polymer fibers before and after oil absorption was analyzed using a high-powered microscope and scanning electron microscope and the saturated oil absorption rate as well as buoyancy recovery of the fiber products were also studied. The results showed that Cell-g-PBMA polymer fibers had a rough surface and exhibited a void network structure that was specific to oil-absorbent materials. The saturated absorption rates of the Cell-g-PBMA polymer fibers for crude oil, vegetable oil, dichloromethane and diesel were 96.5, 78.7, 38.4, and 27.2 g/g, respectively, which were about 3-6 times that of a commercial polypropylene sorbent. The Cell-g-PBMA fibers also displayed excellent oil/water selectivity and high buoyancy recovery in the clean-up of oil over water. Its excellent oil absorbency demonstrated oil absorbent characteristics of both traditional oil-absorbing materials and synthetic oil-absorbing resins, rendering it an excellent fibrous oil-absorbent material.