Synthesis and characterization of novel high-oil-absorbing resin based on spherical nanocrystal cellulose

High-oil-absorbing resin is one of new self-swelling oil-absorbing materials, which can be used to effectively solve oil-spill problems. In this study, spherical nanocrystalline cellulose (SNC) was successfully prepared by the hydrolysis of microcrystalline cellulose, then SNC was grafted with MA and MMA to prepare novel high-oil-absorbing resin SNC-g-P(MA-co-PMMA). The structure, surface morphology, oil absorbency and thermal behavior of the resins were in-depth characterized. Furthermore, the effects of different reaction factors were studied to obtain optimized reaction conditions. The maximum oil absorbency (8.5 g/g) for SNC-g-P(MA-co-MMA) was achieved by optimizing the reaction conditions. And it exhibits higher thermal stability. Moreover, the first-order kinetic model is more appropriate to discuss the oil-absorbing kinetics of SNC-g-P(MA-co-PMMA), suggesting that the oil-absorbing process is mainly determined by the diffusion of oil molecules on the surface. Compared with reported previous research, outstanding oil-absorbing performance and higher thermal stability of SNC-g-P(MA-co-PMMA) are due to larger specific surface area and effective network volume after the introduction SNC. Benefiting from cheap raw materials (cellulose) and simple manufacturing process, the proposed approach can contribute to the mass manufacturing of cheap high-oil-absorbing resin products with excellent oil absorbency, and it is useful for oil pollution treatment.