RESUMEN
Polymeric foamed materials are among the most widely utilized technologies for oil spill accidents and releases of oil-contaminated wastewater oil due to their porosity to absorb and separate oil/water effectively. However, a major limitation of traditional polymeric foams is their reliance on an ad/absorption mechanism as the sole method of oil capture, leading to potential oil leakage once their saturation point is exceeded. Tri-block polymer styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) is a fascinating absorbent material that can bypass this limitation by both capturing oil and providing a sealing mechanism via gelation to prevent oil leakage due to its unique chemical structure. SEBS foams are produced via simultaneous crosslinking and foaming that results in an impressive expansion ratio of up to 15.2 with over 93% porosity. Most importantly, the SEBS foams show great potential as oil absorbents in spill remediation, demonstrating rapid and efficient oil absorption coupled with superhydrophobic properties. Moreover, the unique interaction between the oil and SEBS enables the formation of a physical gel, acting as an effective barrier against oil leakage. These findings indicate the potential for commercializing SEBS foam as a viable option for geotextiles to mitigate oil spill concerns from infrastructures.
RESUMEN
The demands for bioplastics that provide good barrier properties against moisture and oxygen while simultaneously displaying good physical properties without compromising their biodegradability is ever-increasing. In this work, a multiphase and multilayer film assembly composed of thermoplastic starch (TPS) and its maleated counterpart (MTPS) with poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) was constructed as a suitable barrier film with excellent mechanical properties. The bioplastic film assemblies were fabricated through reactive extrusion, compression molding, and dip-coating process. The incorporation of PBAT co-blend with TPS in the core layer enhanced the multilayer film's interfacial bond. The MTPS/PBAT film assembly provided 86.8% and 74.3% improvement in moisture barrier and oxygen barrier as compared to the baseline TPS and PBAT films, respectively. Overall, the multiphase and multilayer film assembly displayed good mechanical properties in conjuncture with excellent barrier properties indicating their potential as a biodegradable and cost effective alternative to conventional plastics used in the packaging industry.