Mesoporous silica filled smart super oleophilic fibers of triblock copolymer nanocomposites for oil absorption applications

Abstract

Super oleophilic fibers of styrene-isoprene-styrene (SIS) block copolymer/mesoporous silica (MS) nanocomposites are fabricated by electrospinning, and their oil absorption efficiency is monitored by following two different approaches. The first way is by using the fibers as tubular packing materials for oil absorption, whereas the second approach uses the fibers as filtration membrane after deposition on the commercial polyethersulfone (PES) support. All composites are made by adding inorganic MS in different concentrations (2, 4, and 7 wt.%) to SIS block copolymer. The addition of MS increases the fiber diameters and leads to enlarged and bead-like appearances, especially at higher filler concentrations. The oil absorption efficiency is explored based on the oil absorption capacity of the samples as well as with the gravity-driven oil filtration experiments. The best oil absorption efficiency is achieved by the 4 wt.% SIS-MS composite (150% higher oil absorption capacity compared to the neat SIS), and it is used to spin on the PES mechanical support of different pore sizes (0.2 and 8). Ultrafiltration tests conducted on those coated membranes observe improved oil rejection performance as the fibrous SIS-MS are layered on the commercial mechanical support.