Electrospun Polystyrene/Cloisite 20A Fiber for Selective Separation of Oil from Water Surface

The pollution arising from oil spills is a matter of great concern due to its damaging impacts on the ecological environment. In this work, polystyrene (PS)/Cloisite 20A nanocomposite fibers were fabricated by electrospinning method for the separation of oils and organic contaminate from water. The addition of Cloisite 20A nanoparticles could greatly enhance the hydrophobicity and oleophilicity also improves porosity and morphology of the PS, which is confirmed by BET analyses and FESEM image. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated that Cloisite 20A nanolayers exfoliated in the PS matrix. The highest value of sorption capacity by the PS/Cloisite 20A sorbents belongs to the PS-C2 sample (20% wt. PS, 2% wt. Cloisite 20A) for motor oil, vacuum pump oil, and gasoline was 165.2, 165.89, and 110 gg^-1, respectively which was 40-50% greater than that of the PS sorbent without Cloisite 20A. In addition, the kinetic data of the adsorption for the three oils can be well explained by the pseudo-degree equations. Results showed that pseudo-second-order model with R² = 0.9335-0.9999 agrees well-fitting with experimental data.