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A green and facile approach to prepare polylactide/kapok monoliths for a sustainable and reusable oil sorbent

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Abstract

The three-dimensional polylactide (PLA)/kapok monolith with hierarchical porous structures was first prepared via the non-solvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) method. Kapok fibers were preferred to be used as oil adsorbing materials due to their extensive resource, low cost, and excellent oil sorption capacity. However, the fibrous assemblies of kapok formed by adhesives could not be degraded naturally. In this study, PLA and kapok fibers could be regarded as dispersed medium and dispersed phase, respectively. PLA and kapok fibers were physically combined without any binder. The resulting PLA/kapok monoliths exhibited the integrated properties of superior hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 141°, rapid absorption rate, high oil absorption of 17.34 g/g and reutilization. The degradability of raw materials, excellent oil absorption performance, and simplicity of the preparation technology make the monolith have potential in oil/water separation and oil pollution treatment.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 52203056], and the Graduate Student Innovation Fund of Donghua University [No. CUSF-DH-D-2020020].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Textile Science & Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Mingjing Chen, Xinhou Wang & Xiaoxia Sun

  2. Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan

    Hiroshi Uyama

  3. College of Mechanical Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Xinhou Wang

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  1. Mingjing Chen
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  2. Hiroshi Uyama
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  3. Xinhou Wang
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  4. Xiaoxia Sun
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Contributions

Mingjing Chen wrote the main manuscript text. Hiroshi Uyama, Xinhou Wang, and Xiaoxia Sun provided guiding suggestions for the experimental plan and the theories involved in the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiaoxia Sun.

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Chen, M., Uyama, H., Wang, X. et al. A green and facile approach to prepare polylactide/kapok monoliths for a sustainable and reusable oil sorbent. Colloid Polym Sci 301, 1261–1270 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-023-05147-5

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