Highly efficient and reusable polyacrylonitrile-based nanocomposite sorbents for oil spill removal

Abstract

Nanostructured porous materials are desirable sorbents for separating and removing oil spills from water. This work examines the performance of the prepared efficient sorbents in the oil sorption process. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers served as the skeleton matrix, while glutaraldehyde and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) served as cross-linking agents. The prepared polymer sorbents showed high adsorption capacity (12.47 g/g), porosity (95.41%) and low density (0.069 g/cm3). The incorporation of carbon nanostructures (nanotubes or graphene oxide) in the sorbent increased the adsorption capacity to 14.85 g/g. The hydrophobic nature of carbon nanotubes significantly increases the contact angle of water with the surface of the nanocomposite absorber and reaches 137.5 degrees. The obtained sorbents showed good reusability in the adsorption process and maintained an adsorption capacity of about 10 g/g after 5 cycles. The optimal temperature range for using nanocomposite sorbents was 25°C to 35°C. The combination of high sorption capacity, low porosity and density in modified polyacrylonitrile, along with its reusability, makes this designed sorbent highly suitable for efficient removal of oil spills.