Polyurea Grafted Organoclay Nanocomposites for Oil Spill Remediation

Abstract

Oil spill is a form of pollution that is currently becoming a major environmental concern in petroleum industry, as it not only results in significant loss of energy but also imparts hazardous and long lasting impacts on society, economy and environment. Different cleanup strategies have been in use to clean oil from water surface. Recently, much attention has been paid to develop high oil absorption materials with Superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties. These materials ensure efficient and complete removal of oil from spill sites and help in environment. Polymer-layered silicates nanocomposites (PLS) show incredible improvements in material as compared to virgin polymer and conventional micro and macro composites provided the silicate layers are homogenously dispersed in the polymer matrix. The lack of interfacial interaction between the two disparate phases, hinders the separation and dispersion of individual layers in the polymers. Functionalization of clay platelets or addition of swelling agent prior to use in nanocomposite formation offer a solution to avoid interfacial problems. In present research work, for homogenous dispersion of clay into polyurea matrix, first its nature was changed from hydrophilic to organophilic by inserting the cation of dodecylamine between the silicate layers. After that surface modification of intercalated clay was carried out with silane coupling agent i.e. APTES. Hydroxyl groups present on the surface and edges of clay condensed with triethoxysilane groups of APTES, whereas the free amino group of silane coupling agents was exploited for the grafting of polyurea through its reaction with –NCO group of diisocyanate. Polyurea/Organoclay nanocomposites with different concentration of 15 clay ranging from 10-90wt % were synthesized successfully and characterized with FT-IR and XRD. FT-IR analysis confirmed the formation of nanocomposites materials of choice. The results of x-ray diffraction analysis also provide strong evidence regarding the modification, functionalization of clay and ultimately formation of polyurea/clay nanocomposites. The capacity of synthesized materials to be used as sorbent materials for oil spill cleanup process was evaluated. The maximum percentage removal capacity of 90.41% was recorded for gasoline. These synthesized polymer/clay nanocomposites possessed excellent sorption capacities and have potential for use in oil spill cleanup process thus offer sustainable and practical competence for water treatment and environment protection.