Synthesis of butyl acrylate grafted polypropylene fibre and its applications on oil-adsorption in floating water

Abstract

Polypropylene oil-absorption fibre(PP-g-BA) was prepared by radiationinduced graft polymerization of butyl acrylate(BA) onto polypropylene(PP) using divinylbenzene(DVB) as cross-linking agent. The original and grafted PP fibres were characterized by Fourier transform infrared(FT-IR) spectrometer and Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM), and the result indicated that butyl acrylate was successfully grafted onto PP fibre. The factors that influenced the grafting degree of PP were discussed, such as the concentration of monomer and crosslinking agent. When the concentration of DVB was 2% and the concentration of BA was 10%, the maximum grafting degree reached 20.53%. The oil absorption properties of PP and PP-g-BA fibre were investigated and the results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity of PP-g-BA reached 19.74 g/g for toluene and 18.8 g/g for kerosene. Simulating absorption in the oil floating on the surface of water showed that the oil could be absorbed quickly and completely in three minutes. PP-g-BA exhibited quicker adsorption rate and higher adsorption capacity than PP fibre did.