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Emulsion Templated Polyimide Aerogel Foam and Hybrid Aerogel Foam as Absorbents for Oil Cleanup

Gu, Zipeng
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1525711842824095

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Science, University of Akron, Polymer Engineering.
Oil or petroleum is one of the most important natural resources in the world today. However, there are associated risks with the transportation of oil. Since the beginning of oil exploitation, oil spills have occurred. An oil spill always brings about a deleterious impact to the environment and marine ecosystem, making oil cleanup an urgent requirement. There are many mature solutions for oil remediation, with absorption being one of the most efficient methods. The use of porous materials as absorbents has been widely investigated, and aerogels are good candidates, owing to their ultra-porosity and large surface area values. In the first part of this study, the potential of using polyimide (PI) aerogel and emulsion templated (ETPI) aerogel foams as absorbents for oil and water was investigated. PI and ETPI aerogels were fabricated from condensation polymerization between pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), 2,2'-dimethylbenzidine (DMBZ), and tris(2-aminoethyl) amine (TREN) dissolved in dimethyl formamide (DMF). Emulsion templating was also introduced by using an oil-in-oil emulsion system, stabilized by a non-ionic block copolymer surfactant F127® (trademark of BASF). The aerogel foams were obtained by supercritical drying of the corresponding organogels. The effect of surfactant concentration, polyimide concentration, and dispersed phase content on aerogel properties (density, porosity, surface area, oil and water absorption) was studied. The resulting ETPI aerogel foams displayed high surface area (239 m2/g to 782 m2/g), low bulk density (0.033 g/cm3 to 0.083 g/cm3) and high porosity (94.4% to 98.4%). Highest values of total oil absorption (30.00 mL/g) and initial rate (2.941 mL/g·s) was obtained from those ETPI aerogels with high dispersed phase (45%), low polyimide concentration (4 wt%), and low surfactant concentration (0.5 vol%). Aerogels with low polyimide concentration (4 wt%) showed water resistance ability. In the second part of this study, a novel syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS)-polyimide (PI) hybrid aerogel foam was produced, through the oil-in-oil emulsion templating process. The effect of surfactant concentration, polyimide concentration, and dispersed phase concentration on this hybrid aerogel was studied. The resulting hybrid aerogel foams showed relatively high compressive modulus (15.4 MPa to 20.7 MPa), high oil uptake (5.61 mL/g to 9.28 mL/g), and good resistance to water absorption.
Sadhan Jana (Advisor)
Nicole Zacharia (Committee Chair)
Younjin Min (Committee Member)
79 p.
Chemical Engineering; Chemistry; Materials Science; Polymers
polyimide aerogel; emulsion templating; oil cleanup; hybrid aerogel

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Gu, Z. (2018). Emulsion Templated Polyimide Aerogel Foam and Hybrid Aerogel Foam as Absorbents for Oil Cleanup [Master's thesis, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1525711842824095

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Gu, Zipeng. Emulsion Templated Polyimide Aerogel Foam and Hybrid Aerogel Foam as Absorbents for Oil Cleanup. 2018. University of Akron, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1525711842824095.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Gu, Zipeng. "Emulsion Templated Polyimide Aerogel Foam and Hybrid Aerogel Foam as Absorbents for Oil Cleanup." Master's thesis, University of Akron, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1525711842824095

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

akron1525711842824095
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This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.