Study on polyurethane-based porous materials and their adsorption properties

The flexible superhydrophobic thermoplastic polyurethane(TPU)porous material was prepared by heat-induced phase separation method with two cooling steps.The influence of the preparation process on the microstructure of the material was discussed in depth.The microstructure,hydrophobicity and specific surface area of porous TPU materials were analyzed in detail.The surface wettability,separation selectivity,saturated adsorption capacity and adsorption rate,mechanical properties,environmental adaptability and cyclic properties of porous TPU materials were studied.The results show that the TPU-8%porous monolithic material prepared by heat-induced phase separation method shows good performance when the polymer concentration is 8%,the phase separation temperature is 0℃,the phase separation time is 30min,and the mixing solvent ratio is 9:1.

A novel composite coating mesh film for oil-water separation

Polytetrafluoroethylene-polyphenylene sulfide composite coating meshfilm was successfully prepared by a simple layered transitional spray-plasticizing method on a stainless steel mesh.It shows super-hydrophobic and super-oleophilic properties.The contact angle of this meshfilm is 156.3°for water,and close to 0°for diesel oil and kerosene.The contact angle hysteresis of water on the meshfilm is 4.3°.The adhesive force between thefilm and substrate is grade 0,theflexibility is 1 mm and the pencil hardness is 4H.An oil-water separation test was car-ried out for oil-contaminated water in a six-stage super-hydrophobicfilm separator.The oil removal rate can reach about 99%.

Facile Preparation of Fluoroalkyl End-Capped Vinyltrimethoxysilane Oligomer/Sand Composites Possessing Superoleophilic/Superhydrophobic Characteristic: Application to Oil/Water Separation and Selective Removal of Fluorinated Aromatic Compounds from Aqueous Methanol Solution

Fluoroalkyl end-capped vinyltrimethoxysilane oligomer [RF-(CH2-CHSi(OMe)3)n-RF: n = 2, 3, RF = CF(CF3)OC3F7: RF-(VM)n-RF], was applied to the facile preparation of the corresponding oligomer/sand (Ottawa sand: OS) composites [RF-(VM-SiO3/2)n-RF/OS] through the sol-gel reaction of the oligomer in the presence of micro-sized OS particles (590 - 840 μm) under alkaline conditions at room temperature. FE-SEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron Micrograph) images showed that the obtained composites consist of the RF-(VM-SiO3/2)n-RF oligomeric nanoparticles and the micro-sized OS particles. Interestingly, the RF-(VM-SiO3/2)n-RF/OS composites thus obtained can provide the superoleophilic/superhydrophobic characteristic on the composite surface, applying to the separation of not only the mixture of oil/water but also the W/O emulsion to isolate the transparent colorless oil. The fluorinated oligomeric OS composites were also found to be applicable to the selective removal of fluorinated aromatic compounds from an aqueous methanol solution. Especially, it was demonstrated that the fluorinated OS composites can supply a higher efficient and smooth separation ability for the separation of the mixture of oil and water than that of the corresponding fluorinated micro-sized controlled silica gel (μ-SiO2) composites (average particle size: 9.5 μm), which were prepared under similar conditions. In addition to the separation of oil/water, the fluorinated OS composites provided higher and more selective removal ability for the fluorinated aromatic compounds from aqueous solutions than that of the μ-SiO2 composites.