Recycling of waste tyre rubber into oil absorbent.
The abundant and indiscriminant disposal of waste tyres has caused both health and environmental problems. In this work, we provide a new way to dispose off waste tyres by reusing the waste tyre rubber (WTR) for oil absorptive material production. To investigate this feasibility, a series of absorbents were prepared by graft copolymerization-blending method, using waste tyre rubber and 4-tert-butylstyrene (tBS) as monomers. Divinylbenzene (DVB) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) were employed as crosslinker and initiator, respectively. The existence of graft-blends (WTR-g-tBS) was determined by FTIR spectrometry and verified using thin-layer chromatography (TLC). In addition, the thermal properties of WTR-g-tBS were confirmed by a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). Oil absorbency of the grafted-blends increased with increases in either feed ratio of WTR to tBS or DVB concentration. This absorbency reached a maximum of 24.0gg(-1) as the feed ratio and DVB concentration were 60/40 and 1wt%, respectively, after which it decreased. At other ratios and concentrations the absorbency decreased. The gel fraction of grafted-blends increased with increasing concentration of DVB. Oil-absorption processes in pure toluene and crude oil diluted with toluene were found to adhere to first-order absorption kinetics. Furthermore, the oil-absorption rate in diluted crude oil was observed to be lower than pure toluene.
Wu
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B
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, People's Republic of China. ncuwubo@yahoo.com.cn
Zhou
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MH
D000042:Absorption; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D007700:Kinetics; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D010578:Petroleum; D012408:Rubber / Q000737:chemistry*; D013997:Time Factors; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods; D014866:Waste Products
D010578:Petroleum; D014866:Waste Products; D012408:Rubber