Electrospinning fabrication of magnetic nanoparticles-embedded polycaprolactone (PCL) sorbent with enhanced sorption capacity and recovery speed for spilled oil removal

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) 2022-09, Vol.303 (Pt 3), p.135063-135063, Article 135063
• Main Authors: Eom, Junhyeok, Kwak, Youngwoo, Nam, Changwoo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electrospinning; Magnetic nanoparticle (MNP); Oil spills; Polycaprolactone (PCL); Sorbent
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135063

The use of oil-soaked sorbents in the recovery and cleaning of oil spills presents challenges due to disposal. Recently, magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) based collection has been gaining interest as a new technique to lower the amount of labor required to treat oil spills. In this study, we devised a new method for the preparation of a magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) embedded polycaprolactone (PCL) sorbent with oleophilic and environmentally friendly features, capable of bring easily collected under a magnetic field. Compared with conventional polypropylene sorbents, the MNP embedded PCL sorbent (MNP/PCL) displayed excellent Arabian light (AL) crude oil sorption capacity (45.7 g g−1) and decreased the absorption time of the oil-soaked sorbent due to its electrospun structure and efficient distribution of hydrophobic MNPs. Furthermore, the MNP/PCL based sorbent became fully pyrolyzed under certain temperatures and conditions. The MNP embedded PCL-based sorbent demonstrated broad applicability and utility in large scale oil spill projects. [Display omitted] •The new hybridized structure of sorbent with Polycaprolactone and iron oxide nanoparticle.•Oil recovery capacity of sorbent has 45.7 g g-1 for Arabian Light crude oil.•The oil-soaked sorbent can be easily removed from water surface by a magnetic.•The oil-soaked sorbent can be fully converted into oil fuels using regular refining process.•The oil-unsoaked sorbent can be fully hydrolyzed under UV and seawater condition.