Enhancement of oil absorption properties of acrylic ester resin hybridized with well-organized sea urchin-like MnO2

Acrylic ester resin (AER) is a promising oil-absorbing material for oils and organic solvents absorption because it exhibits high oil retention ability, good swelling properties, and reusability while also being inexpensive, large-scale production, and environmentally benign. However, the AER is not fully utilized owing to its low oil absorption capacity and slow oil absorption rate. In this work, we combine porous structures of MnO2 and swelling properties of AER and design a novel route to fabricate sea urchin-like MnO2/AER hybrids. In this route, the sea urchin-like MnO2 was prepared by a facile hydrothermal method in acidic media. The sea urchin-like MnO2/AER hybrids with different wt% were synthesized by a microwave polymerization route. The resin hybrids exhibited very rough surfaces, which are beneficial for organic molecules absorption and diffusion into the interiors of materials. The resin hybrids can remove oils and organic solvents from water with high selectivity and absorption capacity, and can absorb not only floating oil but also heavy organic solvents underwater. The maximum absorption capacity of resin hybrids was found at the MnO2 content of 3%, and maximum absorption capacity up to 32.5 times of their own weight, higher than that of the pure AER. The performances were mainly attributed to the unique porous structure of MnO2 and swelling properties of AER, indicating the potential application of such oil-absorbing resins to introduce the porous inorganic materials for developing new oils and organic solvents absorbent for removal of organic pollutants from the wastewater. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:4041-4049, 2018. (c) 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers