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Thermal response and recyclability of poly(stearylacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) gel as a VOCs absorbent

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Abstract

The development of absorbent materials for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is in demand for a variety of environmental applications including protective barriers for VOCs point sources. One of the challenges for the currently available VOCs absorbents is their recyclability. In this study, we synthesized poly(stearylacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) (NG-18) gels, and after rigorous characterization, investigated the absorption properties for VOCs. The synthesized gel could be recycled by immersing in ether and other chlorinated, aromatic, and aliphatic solvents and by cooling them at 0 °C. These recycling processes resulted in approximately 25% weight loss compared to the fully swollen state, due to the crystallization of long-alkyl chain component of the gel. This property shows the possibility of recycling absorbed solvents easily and its usefulness as VOCs absorbent material.

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Acknowledgment

Funding for this research is provided by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), USA, under the project number WP-1761.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Processes Branch, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, US Army Engineer Research & Development Center, Champaign, IL, 61822, USA

    Masahiko Ohta & Veera M. Boddu

  2. Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Hokkaido, Japan

    Masahiko Ohta & Kazuki Sada

  3. United States Department of Agriculture, Southern Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, New Orleans, LA, 70124, USA

    Minori Uchimiya

Authors
  1. Masahiko Ohta
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  2. Veera M. Boddu
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  3. Minori Uchimiya
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  4. Kazuki Sada
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Correspondence to Veera M. Boddu.

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Ohta, M., Boddu, V.M., Uchimiya, M. et al. Thermal response and recyclability of poly(stearylacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) gel as a VOCs absorbent. Polym. Bull. 67, 915–926 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-011-0514-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-011-0514-z

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