US-Egypt Cooperative Research: Synthesis and evaluation of porous polymers for absorbing petroleum spills based on recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)

1135101该项目支持材料科学工程系的Witold Brostow博士和丹顿的北德克萨斯大学（UNT）物理系的Jose Perez博士以及埃及开罗的埃及石油研究所（EPRI）的Ayman Mohamady Atta博士的合作研究项目。 他们计划研究基于回收的聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PET）的多孔聚合物的合成和评估，用于吸收石油泄漏。 然而，石油和吸收剂之间的相互作用的理解是穷人。结果之一是现存的石油吸附剂能够存活的吸收-解吸循环次数很少。PI将合成各种吸附剂，包括丙烯酸烷基酯（辛基，十二烷基和十八烷基）依次与苯乙烯，丙烯酸，甲基丙烯酸和烯烃共聚。聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET）将被回收利用，并由回收物制成纤维。 随后，通过热接枝和光化学接枝两种方法将共聚物接枝到PET非织造纤维上。 所制备的吸附剂的性能将进行评估，包括交联密度，吸附时间，吸附容量，重复吸附-解吸循环的影响和灵活性。 将通过拉曼光谱和傅立叶变换红外光谱研究被吸收的成分，以表征石油组分与每种聚合物吸附剂的相互作用。将在UNT通过原子力显微镜测定吸附能力与吸附剂材料孔隙率、表面粗糙度和表面积的关系。UNT团队拥有几项对该项目不可或缺的能力，特别是对吸附剂的表征。EPRI的合作伙伴在处理石油泄漏方面有着丰富的经验，因此对吸油剂有着明确的要求，并且在聚合物合成方面也有着良好的记录，包括多孔聚合物的开发。他们将能够为项目提供除了联合国工作队之外的独特资源。更广泛的影响：该项目的两个潜在成果可能与环境保护有关：一是开发具有吸油能力的聚合物，二是使用PET，PET现在作为废物被丢弃到环境中。有大量的PET废物;在美国，所有2升的软饮料瓶都是由PET制成的，当然不仅仅是这种尺寸，也不仅仅是瓶子。使用回收的PET作为起始材料之一将导致制造原始聚合物时使用的石油更少，与仅使用原始聚合物相比，制造聚合物吸附剂的成本更低，并且作为废物排入环境的PET也更少。开发可用于更多吸收-解吸循环的吸附剂的优点是显而易见的。 五名美国研究生和本科生将参加埃及UNT和EPRI的研究项目，并将获得科学和技术的国际视野。 预计该项目将在《材料教育杂志》上发表教学文章，为教育工作者和学生提供有关石油成分和性质、石油泄漏、多孔聚合物开发和聚合物基材料特性的相关知识。

1135101 This project supports a cooperative research project by Dr. Witold Brostow of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and Dr. Jose Perez, Department of Physics at the University of North Texas (UNT), Denton and Dr. Ayman Mohamady Atta at the Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI) in Cairo, Egypt. They plan to study the Synthesis and evaluation of porous polymers for absorbing petroleum spills based on recycled poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET)Intellectual Merit: The practical importance of absorption of petroleum spills is obvious well recognized. However, understanding of interactions between petroleum and absorbents is poor. One of the consequences is a small number of absorption - desorption cycles that extant petroleum sorbers can survive. The PIs will synthesize a variety of sorbents involving alkyl acrylates (octyl, dodecyl and octadecyl) copolymerized in turn with styrene, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid and olefines. Poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) will be recycled and fibers made from the recyclate. Subsequently, the copolymers will be grafted on nonwoven fibers of PET by two procedures: thermal and photochemical grafting. Properties of the prepared sorbents will be evaluated, including crosslink density, sorption time, sorption capacity, effects of repetitive sorption-desorption cycles and flexibility. Absorbed compositions will be studied by Raman spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to characterize interactions of petroleum components with each polymer sorber. Connections of the sorption capacity to sorber material porosity, surface roughness and surface area will be determined by atomic force microscopy at the UNT. The UNT team has several capabilities indispensable for the project for characterization of the sorbers in particular. The EPRI partners have previous experience in dealing with oil spills and thus have a clear set of requirements for oil sorbers, and also have a track record in polymer synthesis including development of porous polymers. They will be able to provide unique resources for the project in addition to those from the UNT. Broader impacts: Two potential outcomes from this project can be pertinent for protection of the environment: one is development of polymers with oil absorption capability and the second is using PET which is now being thrown out into the environment as waste. There are large amounts of PET waste; here in the US all 2 liter soft drink bottles are made from PET, and of course not only in this size and not only bottles. Using recycled PET as one of the starting materials will result in less petroleum used in making virgin polymers, lower cost of making polymeric sorbers than from virgin polymers only and less PET thrown into environment as waste. Advantages of the development of sorbers that can be used in more absorption- desorption cycles are clear. Five US graduate and undergraduate students will participate in the research project at UNT and at EPRI in Egypt, and will gain an international outlook on science and technology. Instructional articles in the Journal of Materials Education are expected to result from the project, providing the educators and students with pertinent knowledge on petroleum composition and properties, on oil spills, on development of porous polymers and on characterization of polymer-based materials.