Influence of the density of flexible polyurethane foams on their applicability as oil sorbents

Abstract

Sorbents, generally involving porous materials, are one of the most important techniques for remediating areas degraded by oil spills. Polyurethane (PU) foams have been studied as oil sorbents for the remediation of areas affected by spills. However, in addition to the chemical treatments that increase foam selectivity, their effectiveness is directly related to factors such as the specific density and cell morphology of the foams in relation to their sorption capacity. Therefore, this study investigated the density variable in the context of PU foams and their sorption capacity efficiencies. Foams with varying specific densities have been developed (8, 14, 20, 35 e 50 kg.m⁻³) and their microstructures and sorption capacities analyzed. A theoretical equation was proposed to evaluate the sorption efficiency based on the theoretical sorption capacity of the foam, considering its density. The main results show the effectiveness of predicting the sorption capacity of PU foams based on their density and sorbent characteristics for different types of oils.