An experimental investigation of corn stalk grafted by physico-chemical crosslinking as sorbent materials for oil spills
改性玉米秸秆材料的制备及吸油性能的研究

Powdered raw corn stalk (RCS) was modified with butyl methacrylate and styrene by means of suspension polymerization to obtain a new crude oil absorption material,butyl methacrylate and styrene grafted corn stalks (BMS-CS).The optimum conditions determined by orthogonal experiment were as follows:concentrations of initiator ammonium ceric nitrate,monomer n-butyl methacrylate and styrene were 2.0 mmol·L-1,0.6 mol·L-1 and 0.012 mol·L-1,respectively;the dosage of cross-linked agent N,N'-methylene-bis-acrylamide was 0.1% (relative to the quality of RCS);and the reaction was conducted simultaneously at 50°C for 25 h.Oil absorption capacity was investigated at different adsorption time,temperature and retention time.Physico-chemical structure of materials was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.The results displayed that BMS-CS was corroded and became rougher with more irregular folds;an increase of roughness was also convinced by the decline in crystallinity.Newly emerged absorption peaks in FT-IR spectra indicated that hydrophobic groups had been grafted to the surface of RCS.Both of them enhanced oil absorption capacity of modified material.Performance measurement showed that oil absorption capacities of RCS and BMS-CS were 5.23 g·g-1 and 20.12 g·g-1 at room temperature,with the latter 3.85 times higher than the former.