In an experimental study, a team of researchers from Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, China, and Ningbo University, China, prepared open-cell polypropylene/polyolefin elastomer (PP/POE) blend foams for fabrication of reusable sorbents for oil sorption. The foams were prepared via continuous-extrusion foaming using supercritical carbon dioxide as the blowing agent.
The interconnected open-cell structure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The hydrophobicity and lipophilicity of PP/POE open-cell foams were revealed by tests of contact-angle measurement, water and cyclohexane sorption on the foam surface, CCl4 and cyclohexane sorption in water, and oil/water separation. Further, the sorption tests indicated that PP/POE blend foams showed larger oil-uptake capacities than pure PP foams.
In addition, cyclic compression tests showed that PP/POE open-cell foams had excellent ductility and significantly improved recoverability compared to pure PP foams. In cyclic sorption–desorption tests, the sorption kinetics was studied in terms of capacity and saturation time, showing that PP/POE foams kept larger sorption capacities for 10 cycles, with larger sorption rates and good reusability.