title: Effect of blend ratio of PP/kapok blend nonwoven fabrics on oil sorption capacity.
abstract: More research and development on novel oil sorbent materials is needed to protect the environmental pollution. New nonwoven fabrics (pads) of polypropylene (PP)/kapok blends (blend ratio: 100/0, 75/25, 50/50, 25/75 and 10/90) were prepared by needle punching process at a fixed (optimized) condition (punch density: 50 punches/cm2 and depth: 4mm). This study focused on the effect of blend ratio of PP/kapok nonwoven fabrics on oil sorption capacities to find the best blend ratio having the highest synergy effect. The PP/kapok blend (50/50) sample has the lowest bulk density and showed the best oil absorption capacity. The oil sorption capacity of PP/kapok blend (50/50) nonwoven fabric for kerosene/soybean oil [21.09/27.01 (g oil/g sorbent)] was 1.5-2 times higher than those of commercial PP pad oil sorbents. The highest synergy effect of PP/kapok blend (50/50) was ascribed to the lowest bulk density of PP/kapok blend (50/50), which might be due to the highest morphologically incompatibility between PP fibre and kapok. These results suggest that the PP/kapok blend (50/50) having the highest synergy effect has a high potential as a new high-performance oil sorbent material.
authors.forename: Young-Hee
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ji-Soo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Do-Hyung
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Min-Seung
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Young-Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Dong-Jin
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Han-Do
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D035164:Ceiba / Q000737:chemistry*; D045424:Complex Mixtures / Q000737:chemistry; D032561:Cotton Fiber; D008422:Materials Testing; D009821:Oils / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011126:Polypropylenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D013784:Textiles / Q000032:analysis*; D014462:Ultrafiltration / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D045424:Complex Mixtures; D009821:Oils; D011126:Polypropylenes