Comprehensive Review of Magnetic Polymeric Nanocomposites with Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Oil Removal from Water

Abstract

Several oil spills in aquatic environments have been reported over the last few years, and a great effort has been made to develop new techniques for collecting and removing oil from water on a large scale to prevent environmental pollution by this contaminant. In view of the various problems involving traditional methods, such as the generation of secondary pollution, high costs and complexity of synthesizing material and expenses to transport equipment, among others, new technologies have been developed for removal of oil from water. Among these, the use of magnetic polymeric nano-composites has presented promising results, since they have high oil adsorption efficiency, ease of material removal through an external magnetic field, low cost of synthesis and possibility of reusing the material for several cycles, among others. However, a lack of studies about these promising systems exists regarding this technology and its procedures. Therefore, here we present a brief bibliographic review of the synthesis routes to obtain magnetic polymeric nanocomposites containing superpara-magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles developed for oil removal from water and report future trends and perspectives for progress of this technology.