Renewable Eugenol-Based Polymeric Oil-Absorbent Microspheres: Preparation and Oil Absorption Ability

Abstract

This article reports a novel type of polymeric microspheres derived from a renewable biomass, eugenol, via a facile and effective suspension polymerization approach. On the basis of eugenol and methacryloyl chloride, we first synthesized and then structurally identified the monomer eugenyl methacrylate (E-MA). By using E-MA as the sole monomer and simultaneously as the cross-linking agent, we successfully prepared cross-linked polymeric microspheres through suspension polymerization in aqueous media with 2,2-azoisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as the initiator and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as the stabilizer. The resulting microspheres were obtained in high yield with diameters ranging 500−800 μm and exhibited remarkably large oil absorbency in a relatively high speed. The microspheres can be reused for at least five times with little change in maximum absorption. The preparative strategy for the polymeric microspheres can be taken as a versatile platform for preparing more functional polymeric microspheres, which are expected to find significant applications in environmental protection and other fields.

Synthesis of a novel oil‐absorption resin and optimization of its performance parameters using response surface design

“…He et al modified the resin by introducing lipophilic hydrophobic β‐cyclodextrin as a cross‐linking agent in the polymerization process of the resin, owing to which the resin can absorb carbon tetrachloride 100 times of its own weight. Deng et al extracted a substance called eugenol from plants and modified it to obtain a monomer cross‐linker, which increased the absorption of organic reagents, and this technology was successfully applied for the absorption of gasoline and peanut oil. Another way to improve resin performance is to introduce inorganic materials into the resins.…”

Introducing Organic Chemistry Students to the Extraction of Natural Products Found in Vegetal Species

“…Clove oil has biological activities, such us antibacterial, antifungal, insecticidal and antioxidant properties, and traditionally is used as flavoring agent and antimicrobial material in food [9,10,11]. Eugenol is the major component in clove oil which also contains smaller amounts of eugenyl acetate and the terpenoid β-caryophyllene [12] ( Figure 1).…”

A novel composite microsphere as a highly efficient absorbent for oils and organic solvents

“…During the past several decades, many achievements have been made in the studies of oil‐absorbent polymers. Some polymers with good oil absorption performances have been reported, such as hierarchical porous resin with butyl methacrylate, β ‐cyclodextrin‐based oil‐absorbent microsphere, and eugenol‐based oil‐absorbent microsphere …”