Journal of Hazardous Materials 341 (2018) 424–437

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Journal of Hazardous Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhazmat

Invited Review

Oil sorbents from plastic wastes and polymers: A review

Junaid Saleem a,b,∗ , Muhammad Adil Riaz c , Gordon McKay a
a
Division of Sustainability, College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
b
HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
c
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

h i g h l i g h t s

• Polymers such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, etc. are major components of municipal solid waste.
• This review is the first of its kind reporting and compiling various methods of producing oil sorbents from plastics.
• One method of combating plastic wastes as well as oil spill is through the use of sorbents.
• Producing oil sorbents from plastic wastes and polymers can also fulfill waste management purposes.
• Synthesis methods and characterization of oil sorbents have been reviewed from virgin polymers as well as plastic wastes.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A large volume of the waste produced across the world is composed of polymers from plastic wastes such
Received 19 April 2017 as polyethylene (HDPE or LDPE), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) amongst oth-
Received in revised form 5 July 2017 ers. For years, environmentalists have been looking for various ways to overcome the problems of such
Accepted 31 July 2017
large quantities of plastic wastes being disposed of into landfill sites. On the other hand, the usage of syn-
Available online 6 August 2017
thetic polymers as oil sorbents in particular, polyolefins, including polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene
(PE) have been reported. In recent years, the idea of using plastic wastes as the feed for the production
Keywords:
of oil sorbents has gained momentum. However, the studies undertaking such feasibility are rather scat-
Plastic wastes
Oil sorption
tered. This review paper is the first of its kind reporting, compiling and reviewing these various processes.
Polymers The production of an oil sorbent from plastic wastes is being seen to be satisfactorily achievable through
Sorbent a variety of methods Nevertheless, much work needs to be done regarding further investigation of the
numerous parameters influencing production yields and sorbent qualities. For example, differences in
results are seen due to varying operating conditions, experimental setups, and virgin or waste plastics
being used as feeds. The field of producing oil sorbents from plastic wastes is still very open for further
research, and seems to be a promising route for both waste reduction, and the synthesis of value-added
products such as oil sorbents. In this review, the research related to the production of various oil sorbents
based on plastics (plastic waste and virgin polymer) has been discussed. Further oil sorbent efficiency in
terms of oil sorption capacity has been described.
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
2. Ways of combating oil spills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
2.1. Burning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
2.2. Booms and skimmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
2.3. Chemical dispersants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
2.4. Sorbents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: Junaidupm@gmail.com, Jsaleem@hbku.edu.qa (J. Saleem).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.07.072
0304-3894/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 J. Saleem et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials 341 (2018) 424–437 425

3. Desired properties of oil sorbents made from plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

3.1. Good mutual solubility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
3.2. High surface area (and/or high surface to thickness ratio) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
3.3. Porous structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
3.4. Penetration into network structure (swelling) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
3.5. Low degree of cross linking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
4. Fabrication strategies of oil sorbents from plastic wastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
4.1. Chemical conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
4.2. Grafting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
4.3. Gamma radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
4.4. Mechanical method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
4.5. Porous films . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
4.5.1. Dry-Stretch process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
4.5.2. Particle stretch process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
4.5.3. Wet process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
4.6. Aerogels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
5. Sorbents based on plastics types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
5.1. Polyurethane oil sorbents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
5.2. Polystyrene oil sorbents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
5.3. Polyethylene and polypropylene based oil sorbents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
5.4. Methacrylate polymers (polyacrylates or acrylics) oil sorbents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
5.5. Oil sorbents based on miscellaneous polymers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
6. Future prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435

1. Introduction Table 1
Classification of Plastic Wastes

Plastic products opened a new era in industrial history ever since Polymer % Plastic Waste
synthetic polymers were first introduced into industrial scale pro- LDPE/LLDPE 20.6
duction in the 1940s [1]. Booming research and utilization of plastic PP 20
products considerably and profoundly changed the structure of HDPE 17.4
material research and application. This originated from the fasci- PET 11.7
PS 10.9
nating character of plastics including high resistance to corrosion,
PVC 10.9
high flexibility to process applications and low manufacturing cost. PU 2.7
Apart from their wide use in decoration, electronics industry and Others 9.8
construction applications [2], they are extensively used as shopping LLDPE Linear low density polyethylene
bags, bottles, and pipes. Due to their extensive scale of production, LDPE low density polyethylene
the waste generated by plastic is also alarming. There are many
species that are directly affected by plastic wastes. Seabirds are
amongst the most vulnerable creature and are observed to consume lis et al. studied the thermal degradation of HDPE in a reactive
floating plastics [3]. Another problem associated with plastic waste extruder to obtain oily products with future potential to refine
is related to the screening or presence of different grades of plastic fuels [10]. The production of alkane gases from the pyrolysis of
waste. Plastics need greater processing in order to be recycled than HDPE using a fluidized bed reactor was also studied [11]. Further-
glass or metal. They must often be of nearly identical composition more in order to obtain valuable products, appropriate catalysts
to become mixed efficiently. When different grades of plastics are can be applied to improve the thermal degradation efficiency of
melted together they tend to separate and resist being reformed. waste plastic. The application of waste plastic to produce porous
Even plastic of the same type creates problems. This information carbon is another option for reclaiming of PSW (plastic solid waste)
reveals that beneath the convenient use of plastic products, one since porous carbons investigated in research perform consid-
should be consciously aware about the challenges of white pollu- erably more impressively than commercially available activated
tion and the accompanying environmental issues created by plastic carbon [12], however the yields are low (less than 20%) due to
waste. Hence there is a need to utilize plastic waste effectively. large volatilization and the burn-off effect under vacuum condition.
The classification of plastic waste is a good start to understand and This is accompanied with the high energy intensive process which
start to solve the waste problem. Table 1 shows the classification restricts the widespread application of plastic waste pyrolysis [4].
of plastic waste [4,5]. Recycling is a promising way to utilize plastic waste as it pro-
Current methods for the disposal of plastic wastes include land- vides benefits of waste minimization, reduction of carbon dioxide
fill, incineration (burning to ashes), plastic recycling, and energy emissions and value added products [6]. It is believed that the
production. At present, the high cost of producing electricity from application of plastic waste is focused on its elimination in a low-
wastes prohibits this route [6]. Traditionally due to the increasing cost approach rather than its beneficial, value-added reuse. Due to
growth of plastic solid waste (PSW), and so far landfill or inciner- the importance of cleaning of oil spills, many reviews have been
ation have the most utilized application for post-consumer plastic written in recent years about advanced sorbent materials [13–15].
treatment [7,8]. Landfilling will eventually be phased out due to However, this review paper is the first of its kind reporting, com-
the scarcity of space and its ever increasing cost [4]. Likewise, piling and reviewing the various methods of producing oil sorbents
incineration generates emissions of toxic fumes and fly ash that from plastics. This includes studies utilizing plastic waste as well as
require further disposal [9]. Among the industrial utilizations of virgin polymers that are components of plastics materials. In this
plastic waste, pyrolysis is one of the favorable approaches. Wal- review, we are concerned with oil sorbents mainly for oils from
petroleum sources.
426 J. Saleem et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials 341 (2018) 424–437

2. Ways of combating oil spills

Every year, oil spills cause significant environment and eco-

nomic damage, for example, the Erika spill in France in 1999 [16]
and the Gulf of Mexico oil leak in 2010 [17]. Spilled oil on sea
spreads quickly over the water and undergoes various processes
such as emulsion formation and degradation of oil [18]. To deal
with oil spills, various strategies have been employed which are
explained briefly in this section [19].

2.1. Burning

In-situ burning of an oil layer can remove oil slicks but results
in the pollution from the burning in the environment [20].

2.2. Booms and skimmers

Booms can help in the control and spread of oil slicks by physi-
cally containing it by forming a barrier around it and then the oil can
be picked up by skimmers (mechanical devices), however, this can
expensive for large spills due to the requirement of a lot of equip-
ment and labor and ineffective for oil on turbulent seas or rivers. Fig. 1. Properties of an ideal oil sorbent made from plastics.
[19,21,22].
The qualities for ideal oil sorbent for cleaning oil spills are (See
2.3. Chemical dispersants also Fig. 1):

These disperse oil from the sea surface as they reduce the inter-
facial tension at the oil/water interface and increase the natural
biodegradation process [23]. Bio-surfactants can also be used (pro-
duced by micro-organisms) which can degrade oil spills as well
[24]. However, both these approaches involve the addition of chem-
ical materials to the sea.
3.1. Good mutual solubility
This property is related with the structure i.e. the chain structure
of both oil and absorbent should be similar [36].
3.2. High surface area (and/or high surface to thickness ratio)

2.4. Sorbents This maximizes the sorption surface available. Usage of

Various sorbent materials which are hydrophobic in nature have
been used to remove oil from the sea water surface. In the case of
natural sorbents, various vegetable products can be used such as
rice, straw, cotton, wood fiber or wool but most of them have a
poor adsorption capacity [25,26]. Many mineral products such as
Zeolites or natural clays [26,27] are hydrophilic in nature, how-
ever, their surface can be modified hence they adsorb oil as well.
In recent years, nanotechnology based solutions have been used
for oil spills [28] and various nanomaterials have been synthesized
which have shown better performance than conventional sorbents.
Some examples include nanowire membranes [29] and nanoparti-
cles such as Fe2 O3 /C [30]. Carbon nanomaterials such as graphene
and carbon nanotubs have also been extensively used [31].
Despite the advent of nanotechnology, most commercially avail-
able sorbents are polypropylene and polyurethane based as they
possess not only much higher sorption capacities but also have
recyclability potential that many sorbents do not possess, hence
they can be regenerated using various post treatment strategies
for reuse. Also, robustness of these sorbents render them useful in
harsh environments typical of oil spills. One of the most attractive
properties of these sorbents is that they can be manufactured from
waste plastics as well [32–35] hence they help to combat environ-
mental problems of oils spills and waste pollution simultaneously.
the thinnest substrate permitting sufficient mechanical strength
results in maximized value of absorption capacity (g/g) per unit
mass of sorbent [36–38].
3.3. Porous structure
Pore structure and void spaces will provide further facilitation
of oil into the plastic structure [36,39].
3.4. Penetration into network structure (swelling)
It allows oil to penetrate into the network structure which
results in the increase in the volume of sorbent often known as
the swelling phenomena [36].
3.5. Low degree of cross linking
A low degree of cross linking will improve the swelling of a
plastic structure and hence improve its sorption capacity. High
cross-linked polymers are rigid regardless of chain flexibility [36].
4. Fabrication strategies of oil sorbents from plastic wastes
4.1. Chemical conversion

3. Desired properties of oil sorbents made from plastics
The absorption capacity of a sorbent is defined as [31].
Absorption capacity (g/g) = (weight of sorbent after adsorption
− weight of sorbent before adsorption)/weight of sorbent before
adsorption
Atta et al. [40] used a two-step chemical conversion route to
synthesize an oil sorbent where polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
waste was first glycolized using trimethylolpropane (TMp) or pen-
taerytheritol (PEr) resulting in the formation of polyol oligomers.
These intermediates were then further reacted with 2,4-toluene
diisocyanate which resulted in the synthesis of several types of
 J. Saleem et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials 341 (2018) 424–437 427

Fig. 2. Oil-sorbent films from waste HDPE bottles for oil spill remediation (a) Blended sorbent film, named HD-75 (size 3 × 3 cm2 ) before being immersed in corn oil bath,
(b) after immersing, (c) after 20 min, (d) after 60 min, (e) after 8 h, (f) film was hanged in the air to drip off the oil on the surface for 2 h before taking photo: Adhesion and
cohesion phenomena at the surface and near the edge of sorbent film, (g) film immersed in water, and (h) film in water after 8 h. Small black line near the bottom left of film
was used as a reference to show the extent of oil uptake, (i) SEM image of HD-75 sorbent film. (j) Full isotherm and pore size distribution of HD-75, (k) Oil uptake capacities
recorded after 60 min of dripping using HD-75 as sorbent with different sorbates. Reproduced from Ref. [35].

Polyurethane PU foams which were used to investigate the kinetics
of oil uptake.
4.2. Grafting
Tanobe et al. [41] investigated the effect of grafting polystyrene
polymer onto waste polyurethane foams for oil sorption per-
formance. In the first step, morphology (porous structure and
pore size) and physical chemical properties (density and surface
hydrophobicity) were altered to get foams with the best sorption
ability which were then further grafted with polystyrene. In this
second step, different conditions were tested in a set of experiments
by varying reaction time, styrene volume and initiator concentra-
tion and results indicated that grafting rendered foams with better
sorption capacity, fast uptake kinetics and good recyclability. In a
similar study, an oil sorbent material (with a sorption capacity of
20.8 g/g) was obtained by grafting methacrylic acid on polypropy-
lene fibers by using divinylbenzene as a cross-linking agent [42].
dose) and these were found to possess good sorption capacity for
light and heavy crude oils. This low dose of gamma radiation pro-
duces with a low degree of cross-linked structures which allows
greater penetration and sorption of crude oils into the polymer
sheets. Scanning electron microscope SEM photographs and dif-
ferential scanning calorimetric DSC plots were used to investigate
structural changes in the sheets including their behavior towards
crude oil [43].
4.4. Mechanical method
Sharma et al. [44] synthesized fibers from polystyrene waste
using citrus peel extracts as solvent via a simple mechanical route
without any addition of chemical. These fibers were micro to
nanometers in dimension and were highly hydrophobic in nature.
4.5. Porous films

4.3. Gamma radiation 4.5.1. Dry-Stretch process

Pore formation results from stretching non-porous, semi-
Here waste plastic sheets of polyethylene (PE) and polypropy- crystalline, extruded polymer precursor in the machine direction
lene (PP) were subjected to low doses of gamma irradiation (3 Mrad [45].
428 J. Saleem et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials 341 (2018) 424–437
Fig. 3. Sorption properties of Polypropylene Sponge (PP) (a) schematics showing important synthesis steps. (b) The absorption and recycling process of diethyl ether (dyed
with oil red) and the recovery of the PP sponge by washing with volatile organic liquid (ethanol) and drying in air. (c) Absorption capacities of the PP sponge toward different
organic liquids and oils. Reproduced from Ref. [64].
Fig. 4. Plastics used as oil sorbents.
4.5.2. Particle stretch process
In this method, the polymeric raw material is mixed with the
particulate material, and then extruded. The pores are formed dur-
ing stretching when the interface between the polymer and the
particulate fracture due to the stretching forces [45].
4.5.3. Wet process
In the wet phase inversion process or extraction process, the
polymeric raw material and oil are mixed and extruded together
and the processing oil is removed eventually to make pores in
sorbent [46]. Saleem et al. applied this methodology with some
modifications to prepare an oil sorbent film. The polymer–solvent
wt. ratio of 10:90 was used in which HDPE and UHMWPE constitute
7.5 and 2.5 wt% respectively. The HDPE bottle was cut into small
pieces and then washed with detergent. It was further washed with
acetone and then dried in an oven for several hours to remove traces
of solvent. The blends were prepared via melt mixing in a static-
mixer which is equipped with roller rotors. HDPE pellets were first
charged into the chamber at 180 ◦ C and at a mixing speed of 25 rpm.
A mixture of dispersed UHMWPE in solvent (mineral oil and petro-
latum wax with equal wt%) was slowly added to the chamber. The
mixture was allowed to mix for 30 min at a mixing speed of 25 rpm
at 180 ◦ C. The partial gel obtained from the chamber was cut into
fine pieces and was put back into the static-mixer for round 2 under
the same operating conditions in order to achieve uniform mix-
ing. Then, it was hot-pressed at 180 ◦ C in order to achieve a flat
sheet followed by solvent extraction in a hexane bath for 20 min
at room temperature to remove around 50–60% of the solvent. The
sheet was later stretched by using a successive biaxial stretching
technique at a stretching ratio of 12:12 using a crosshead speed
of 400 mm/min at 121 ◦ C. The stretched film was placed in boiling
hexane to extract and remove the residual solvent and then dried to
obtain the porous film and was named as HD-75 [35]. Fig. 2 depicts
properties and characterization of oil sorbent film produced from
waste HDPE bottles.
4.5.3.1. Hypothesis of preparing efficient sorbent film using plastic
waste. Saleem et al., [35], [32] explained why plastic waste has
not often been used as oil sorbent films. In order to make a strong
porous polymer film [47] that can be subsequently used as an oil
sorbent, the popular method (wet process) is followed in which a
solvent is added that diffuses into the polymer matrix and makes it
swell, thus creating a gel sheet [48]. Later, the solvent is extracted
 J. Saleem et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials 341 (2018) 424–437 429

Table 2
Polyurethane based oil sorbents.

S.N. Product Origin Discussion Reference

1 Polyurethane Foams
2 Polyurethane Foams
3 Polyurethane sponge material
treated with silica sol and
gasoline successively
4 Co-axial electrospun
polystyrene/polyurethane
fibers
5 Treated polyurethane sponges
6 Polyurethane PU Foams
7 Post-consumed polyurethane
PU foams modified by
polystyrene
8 Polyurethane Foam modified
by Fulica Atra feather
9 Polypropylene, polyurethane,
and polyester) and natural
organic (cotton, straw, and
sawdust) sorbents
10 Polyurethane (PU) foam
Polyurethane foams used as Polyurethane foam grafted by Tanobe et. al., 2009 [41]
Mattresses polystyrene; Oil uptake (19–58 g/g),
Retention values (50-18 g/g)
Recycled PET (polyethylene Limited oil uptake (25–35 g/g), Atta et. al. 2013 [40]
terephthalate) Retention values not presented
Polyurethane The absorption capacity was 100 g/g Wu et al 2014 [72]
sorbent for motor oil. After 15
successive sorption-squeezing cycles,
about 70 % sorption capacity was left.
Polystyrene and polyurethane The absorption capacity: about 64 g/g Lin et al 2013 [73]
(motor oil) and 47 g/g (sun flower oil).
Polyurethane High sorption capacity and excellent Wang & Uyama 2016 [64]
oil/water selectivity.
Polyurethane foam Oleophilic PU foams formed by graft Li et al 2013 [74]
copolymerization on PU foams using
lauryl methacrylate monomer,
divinylbenzene as a cross-linking
agent, benzoyl peroxide as an initiator
and toluene as the solvent.
The oil sorption capacity: about 47 g/g
(diesel) and 41 g/g (kerosene).
Polyurethane post-use waste Post-consumed PU foams Tanobe et al 2009 [41]
(environmental concern) modified by
grafting with polystyrene to increase
its oil sorption capacity and were
characterized using FTIR-ATR, XPS and
SEM. The oil sorption was about 50 g
oil /g PU foam for Brazilian crude oil.
Polyurethane Foam The modified foam (with bird’s Ouda et al 2015 [75]
feather) possessed high absorption
capacity for both light and heavy crude
oils. Five minutes contact period with
oil was sufficient.
Polypropylene, polyurethane, In non- quiescent (non-quiet) Myers 2016 [76]
polyester, cotton, straw and conditions, cotton most effectively
sawdust sorbents removed oil from water, followed by
polypropylene, polyurethane and
straw.
Polyurethane Highly hydrophobic and oleophilic Su 2009 [77]
foam obtained which can reclaim oils
from polluted natural water area as the
contact angle of the foam was large as
152.28.

from the gel sheet. This addition and removal of solvent not only
creates void spaces in the polymer film, but also decreases the chain
entanglements (physical cross-linking) that hinders the better pen-
etration of oil between the chains. In this process, thermoplastics
which are capable of being swollen with a solvent and forming a
pseudo-gel state are used. Polymers, which meet these require-
ments, must be linear and have a high molecular weight of at least
300,000 g/mol [49]. Plastic bottles, on the other hand, are made up
of lower grades of polyethylene with relatively smaller molecu-
lar weight (much less than 100,000 g/mol) and molecular chains
[33,34] (See also Fig. 4 for the structures of plastics). These chains
would not be swollen significantly with the solvent and could not
be converted into a pseudo-gel state; hence most of the solvent
remains unmixed resulting in an inhomogeneous gel sheet. As these
grades of plastic do not fulfill the required criteria, hence not much
research has been conducted to use them as oil sorbents.
Recently, an innovative way to solve this problem was identified
[35] by blending plastic waste bottles with much higher molecu-
lar weight polyethylene. Young-Keun et al. (2007) also explained
the process of making microporous films using different molecu-
lar weights of HDPE [48]. As there are other methods (dry-stretch
process and particle stretch process) [46] available to create porous
polymer films, the reason for using the solvent extraction method
(wet process) is to achieve a thin film with uniform thickness and
good physical properties [46,50].
4.5.3.2. Mechanism of high oil uptake. Saleem et al. [32–35,51] pre-
sented the key criteria for preparing highly efficient sorbent films.
The mechanism of oil uptake may follow adsorption, absorption,
or both. In addition, adhesion between sorbent and oil surface
and cohesion between oil molecules may also increase the uptake
capacity of the sorbent considerably. When the sorbent is taken out
from the spill site, some oil may drip from its surface while part of
the oil remains in the surface due to absorption and adsorption phe-
nomena. At the same time some oil adheres to the surface due to
adhesion and does not drip off the film while some oil sticks to the
edge of the sorbent film due to cohesion and adhesion forces. Over-
all, the combination of adsorption, absorption, adhesion (due to
pores and voids, and large surface to thickness ratio), and cohesion
give exceptionally high oil uptake capacities.
From the BET analysis, it was found that sorbent film has the
surface area 114 m2 /g. When compared with waste plastic bottle
this is a hundred fold increment in surface area. Also it should be
noted that the unprocessed plastic waste bottle has a negligible
surface area. The generation of pores was also confirmed by SEM
images.

Table 3
Polystyrene based oil sorbents.
S. N. Product
1 Oil Sorbent Fibers
2 Nanoporous polystyrene (PS) fibers
3 Electrospun
PS/PAN
fibers
4 Polystyrene fibers
5 Magnetic
polystyrene-divinylbenzene
monolith
6 Magnetic polystyrene foam
7 Electrospun polystyrene PS fibers
430
Origin Discussion Reference
Polystyrene Sub-micron fibers from polystyrene waste. Oil Sandra S and Shital 2016
uptake measurements not presented [44]
PS Prepared via a one-step electrospinning Lin et al 2012 [82]
J. Saleem et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials 341 (2018) 424–437
process.
The absorption capacity: about 114 g/g (motor
oil), 112 g/g (bean oil) and 97 g/g (sun flower
oil).
Polystyrene (PS) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) The mechanical strength of PS fibers improved Li et al 2015 [83]
due to PAN. The oil sorption increases with
decreasing fiber diameter. The sorbent
possessed quick oil sorption speed along with
high buoyancy (ability to float on water). The
absorption capacity: about 195 g/g (pump oil),
132 g/g (peanut oil), 67 g/g (diesel) and 44 g/g
(gasoline).
Polystyrene Polystyrene fibers fabricated by a facile Wu et al 2012 [39]
electrospinning method. The absorption
capacity for PS fibers: about 7 g/g (diesel),
82 g/g (silicon oil), 112 g/g (peanut oil) and
131 g/g (motor oil).
Polystyrene and divinylbenzene Porous hydrophobic monolith material with a Zhang et al 2015 [84]
142◦ water contact angle, with an oil intake
capacity of about 23 times its own mass.
Addition of carbonyl iron powder made the
material magnetic as the oil soaked material
can be readily collected by the use of magnet.
Polystyrene The foam possessed high efficiency for the Liuhua et al 2017 [70]
removal of oil from the surface of water.
PS The fibrous PS mats possessed higher oil Lin et al 2012 [85]
absorption capacities than commercial
non-woven polypropylene fibers.
 J. Saleem et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials 341 (2018) 424–437
Fig. 5. Schematic diagram illustrating the formation process of porous polystyrene fibers during electrospinning. Reproduced from Ref. [85].
4.6. Aerogels
One effective strategy to increase the sorption capacity of poly-
mer sorbent materials is to make three dimensional structures of
them in the form of an aerogel, foam or sponge as these struc-
tures possess a high surface area and pore volume. This technique
has been extensively used for two dimensional graphene films as
reported in various recent works [52–55]. Other foam type materi-
als include carbon fiber sorbent aerogel derived from bamboo [56],
CNT Sponges [57], composite CNT-Graphene sponges [58–60], Fe/C
macroporous monoliths [61] and Silicon sponge made via sol-gel
polymerization having high affinity for organic liquids [62].
A similar strategy has been effective for polymer based sor-
bents as well e.g. Pinto et al., [63] synthesized a polymer sponge
for oil remediation instead of making films and demonstrated that
pores of the polymeric structure play a key role in increasing the oil
absorption capacities. In another work, Wang et al. [64] synthesized
polypropylene (PP) sponge by thermally-induced phase separa-
tion (TIPS) technique having promising oil sorbent properties as
illustrated in Fig. 3. Similarly various polymer based aerogels were
synthesized and applied for oil clean-up that include PDMS (poly-
dimethylsiloxane) sponge [65], polyurethane [66–69], melamine
sponges [66] and polystyrene foams [70].
431
5. Sorbents based on plastics types
The plastic derived oil sorbents are usually based on one plas-
tic or a mixture of plastics [40,71]. In a few studies, plastic waste
has been investigated as oil sorbents however most of the studies
consume virgin plastic polymers to form oil sorbents.
Plastics can be divided into thermoplastics and thermoset
plastics. Thermoplastics (polypropylene, low density polyethylene
LDPE, high density polyethylene HDPE, polyethylene terephtha-
late PET, polyamide/nylon, polystyrene, poly methyl methacrylate)
are those which can be recycled while thermoset plastics
(polyurethane, polyester resin, urea formaldehyde, melamine
formaldehyde, epoxy resin, phenol-formaldehyde/Bakelite) per-
manently deform on heating and therefore, cannot be recycled.
Fig. 4 illustrates plastics that are used in oil sorption applications.
It is worthwhile to discuss oil sorbents based on various plastics
types.
5.1. Polyurethane oil sorbents
Wu et al. prepared oil sorbent material with an absorption
capacity of 100 g/g sorbent for motor oil by treating polyurethane
sponges with silica sol and then with gasoline [72]. By co-
axial electro-spinning of polyurethane and polystyrene fibers, the
excellent oil sorbent material was obtained having a better per-
432 J. Saleem et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials 341 (2018) 424–437

Table 4
PP and PE based oil sorbents.

S.N. Product[ Origin Discussion Reference

1 PP and PE powder and sheets
2 Oil absorbent foam
3 Oil Sorbent film
4 Oil Sorbent film
5 Methacrylic Acid MAA- grafted
Polypropylene PP Fibers
6 Polypropylene PP nonwoven
fabricated material with
hydrophilic and hydrophobic
sites
7 PP/kapok blended nonwoven
fabrics
8 Fiber assemblies made from
polypropylene, kapok and
milkweed fibers
9 Polypropylene fibrous
membrane
10 Polypropylene sorbent booms
11 Nonwoven polypropylene oil
sorbents
12 Polypropylene, polyurethane,
and polyester) and natural
organic (cotton, straw, and
sawdust) sorbents
13 Absorbent Materials including
propylene fibers, processed
wood and three commercial
materials based on perlite
(amorphous volcanic glass).
Plastic Wastes
Extruded polyethylene EPE
(low cost shock proof foam
sheets) used in packing
waste HDPE bottles
Ultrahigh-molecular-weight
polyethylene
polypropylene fibers (PP)
PP
Propylene and Kapok
Polypropylene or kapok or
milkweed fibers
syndiotactic polypropylene
Polypropylene
Polypropylene
Polypropylene, polyurethane,
polyester, cotton, straw and
sawdust sorbents
2 Propylene and four other
absorbents
No oil uptake and retention values measured, Gheit et. al.,2006
Focused only on oil-water separation efficiency [43]
Oil uptake (30 g/g) Gong et. al., 2011 [91]
Oil uptake capacity, 100 g/g Saleem and Mckay 2016 [32]
Oil sorption capacities, 42–290 g/g after 2 min Saleem et. al., 2015 [35]
of dripping for a range of petroleum solvents.
Graft polymerization of MAA was done on PP Ha et al 2016 [42]
done using divinylbenzene as a cross linking
agent and 2, 2- azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as
an initiator. Optimum reaction conditions
were: temp 80 ◦ C, time 5 h, MAA conc 2%, AIBN
conc 0.025 mol/L. Maximum oil sorption
capacity (qmax) for crude oil, about 21 g/g for
crude oil.
The PP based material possessed ability to Zhou et al 2016 [92]
clean organic pollutants from water surfaces.
The PP/kapok blend (50/50) possessed the Lee et al 2013 [86]
lowest bulk density of all the blends. The
absorption capacity for PP/kapok blend
(50/50): about 21 g/g (kerosene) and 27 g/g
(soybean oil).
The polypropylene fiber assembly exhibited Rengasamy et al 2011 [87]
the highest sorption capacity followed by the
kapok and milkweed fiber assemblies at
porosity <0.98. All fibers showed higher
absorption capacity for high diesel oil than
diesel oil.
Fibers from Kapok (a natural cellulosic
material from kapok plant) are lightweight,
soft, strong and water-repellant. Milkweed
fibers (from seeds of Milkweed) are alternative
to kapok fibers.
Electrospun material was superhydrophobic Patel and Chase 2014 [88]
with water contact angles greater than 150.
The material successfully removed water from
diesel (ultra low sulfur diesel ULSD) samples.
Comparative study of the commercially Schrader 1991 [21]
available propylene based oil sorbent booms
was made.
Oil sorption capacity of propylene depends on Wei et al 2003 [90]
fiber diameter, sorbent porosity and oil
property.
In non- quiescent (non-quiet) conditions, Myers 2016
cotton most effectively removed oil from [76]
water, followed by polypropylene,
polyurethane and straw. Sorption capacities
for pure oil without water underneath were
not reported.
A comparative study on the absorption Teas et al 2001 [89]
capacity of these materials to clean oil spills
was done and the best performing material
was polypropylene with capacity of 10 g/g
compared to 3–4 g/g other 3 materials.

formance than commercially available polypropylene sorbents
[73]. Oleophilic polyurethane foam with oil sorption capacity for
kerosene of 41 g/g was formed by graft polymerization [74] which
was modified by a birds feathers and the material so produced
also possessed a good oil sorption capacity for oils [75]. A study
was done to assess the effectiveness of various natural and syn-
thetic sorbents in non-quiet conditions using wave tank having
20 L of water and results showed that polyester and sawdust sank
rendering them useless for oil spills whereas among those sor-
bents which remained on water, cotton recovered most oil with
mean oil sorbent mass ratio of 10.6, followed by polypropylene
(9.5), polyurethane (6.8), and straw (5.5) [76]. Su et al. reported the
hydrophobic polyurethane foam with water contact angle of about
152◦ which can reclaim oil from water [77]. Similarly Pinto et al.
synthesized the polyurethane foams to study the effect of pore size
on adsorption capacity and found that foams with interconnected
porous structures and pore sizes below 500 mm have oil absorption
capacities up to 30 g/g, whereas chemical functionalization of the
foam does not increase the sorption capacity but only increases the
selectivity of the foam highlighting the importance of morpholog-
ical properties of foam type polymeric materials for their sorption
performance [61]. Some composite polyurethane sponge materials
were also reported. In one such study it was found that the sor-
bent possessed excellent separation efficiency (of about 99%) for
the continuous separation of oil/water mixtures due to fastening
of graphene sheets into polyurethane PU sponge [78]. Similarly,
a strong superhydrophobic polyurethane sponge anchored with
SiO2 nanoparticles was reported [79]. In another investigation,
 J. Saleem et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials 341 (2018) 424–437 433

Table 5
Acrylates based oil sorbents.

S.N. Product Origin Discussion Reference

1 Butyl methacrylate-lauryl
methacrylate copolymeric
(CPMA) fibers
2 Co-polymer from ST (styrene),
MBA (butyl methacrylate) and
SMA (stearyl methacrylate)
3 Macroporous ST/BMA
copolymer
4 Butyl methacrylate (BMA) and
short-chain methyl
methacrylate (MMA)
copolymer
5 Stearyl methacrylate-butyl
acrylate copolymer
6 Electrospun fibrous mat based
on polymethacrylate
Butyl methacrylate and lauryl Hydroethyl methacrylate was used as a Feng and Xiao 2006 [93]
methacrylate cross-linker. The maximum absorption
capacities of the fibers were about 8 g/g
(kerosene), 15 g/g (toluene), and 35 g/g
(chloroform).
ST, MBA and SMA The oil absorption capacity was about 13 g/g Fang et al 2014 [94]
for ST/MBA and 23 g/g for ST/MBA/SMA.
Benzoyl peroxide as an initiator and
divinylbenzene as a cross-linking agent were
used.
Styrene and butyl methacrylate The macroporous resin possessed oil Du et al 2016 [95]
absorbency (about 9 g/g) to crude oil.
BMA and MMA High oil-absorption resins were prepared by Ji et al 2011 [96]
suspended emulsion polymerization process.
Stearyl methacrylate and butyl Porous oil-absorbent microsphere possessed Duan et al 2016 [97]
acrylate above 95% oil retention for four organic liquids
(toluene, gasoline, diesel and chloroform). The
material can be used at least 12 times with
little decrease in oil absorbency capacity.
Polymethacrylate Contact angle of a water drop on the surface of Mo et al 2014 [98]
the sample was 102.3.

Table 6
Oil sorbents based on miscellaneous polymers.

S.N. Product Origin Discussion Reference

1 Polyester staple fiber PSF
2 Oil sorbent powder
3 Nylon 6, 6 Nonwoven Fabric
4 Electrospun copolymer of
styrene and butyl acrylate
5 PDMS/MWNT Sponge
Recycled PET flakes
PET
Nylon
Styrene and butyl acrylate
The PDMS prepolymer, curing
agent, Magnetic Multiwalled
Carbon Nanotubes, glucose
Oil uptake capacity not reported Zha, 2012 [103]
Oil uptake capacity, 1.5-2.5 g/g Bukharova et. al., 2015 [99]
The absorption capacity for low area mass Ortega et al 2016 [100]
density spun bond nylon: 16 time’s absorbent
mass in low viscosity crude oil.
The produced fibrous material possessed large Xu et al 2016 [104]
specific surface area and fast oil absorption
rate.
Magnetic recyclable macroporous PDMS/3% Turco et al (2015) [101]
MWNT sponge with sorption capacity of
6–12 g/g.

polyurethane sponge containing attapulgite (a superhydrophobic
material) was formed which separated oil droplets from oil-in-
water emulsions with high separation efficiency of about 98% under
harsh turbulent sea conditions [80]. A bag made from a superhy-
drophobic fabric and pristine polyuretahne sponge was found to be
effective in removing 40 L kerosene from water surfaces under vac-
uum conditions in 2 h and 30 min and no escape of oil occurred even
under harsh conditions such as mechanical abrasion [81]. Table 2
summarizes polyurethane based oil sorbents.
5.2. Polystyrene oil sorbents
Lin et al. prepared nanoporous polystyrene (PS) fibers via an
electro-spinning process for oil accident remediation [82]. The elec-
tro spinning of polystyrene and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) together
resulted in a material with high oil sorption capacity of about
195 g/g for pump oil. Further this material was also mechanically
strong with high buoyancy [83]. In another work, Polystyrene (PS)
film was fabricated by a facile electro-spinning method [36]. Mag-
netic poly (styrene-divinylbenzene) foam was also reported that
possessed an oil intake capacity of about 23 times the weight of the
sorbent [84]. Similarly Liuhua et al. reported magnetic polystyrene
foam with oil removing capacity from the surface of water [70]. Lin
et al. investigated tuning the morphology of the polystyrene fibers
using different polymer sources and solvent compositions dur-
ing the electrospinning process and the results indicated that the
porosity of fibers play a key role to achieve better oil adsorption per-
formance as porous PS fibrous mats showed oil adsorption capacity
of about 80 g/g compared to 20 g/g of commercial polypropylene
mats [85]. Fig. 5 depicts the schematic diagram illustrating the for-
mation process of porous polystyrene fibers during electrospinning
while Table 3 summarizes polystyrene based oil sorbents.
5.3. Polyethylene and polypropylene based oil sorbents
Most of the commercial oil sorbents available in the market
are composed of polyethylene and polypropylene. Saleem et al.
[32,35] synthesized oil sorbent films using waste polyethylene
which possessed not only a high sorption capacity but also fast
uptake. kinetics. Lee et al. prepared pads of polypropylene/Kapok
by a needle punching process where the 50/50 blend possessed high
sorbent potential for oils [86]. Similarly, fiber assemblies made from
polypropylene, kapok and milkweed fibers were shown to possess
high sorption capacities [87]. Superhydrophobic mats prepared
from polypropylene by electrospinning were able to remove water
effectively from fuel with high removal efficiency (up to 99%) [88].
A study to assess the oil sorption abilities of polypropylene fibers,
cellulosic material from wood and three commercial preparations
of perlite (volcanic glass) were made [89] whereas another such
comparative study evaluated commercially available polypropy-
lene sorbent booms [21]. Wei et al. prepared an oil sorbent material
based on propylene and found that the oil sorbent performance is
related to the propylene fiber diameter, sorbent porosity and oil
property [90]. Table 4 summarizes the characteristics PP and PE
based oil sorbents.
434 J. Saleem et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials 341 (2018) 424–437

Fig. 6. (a) Schematics of the synthesis of the PDMS–MWNT sponge (b) Oil adsorption capacities of the PDMS–3% MWNT sponge (c-d) Magnetic removal of oil red O colored
hexane on the water surface and oil red O colored chloroform (e) Adsorbed oil recovery from the PDMS–3% MWNT sponge by squeezing (the colorless solvent is ethanol and
the red one is oil red O colored chloroform). Reproduced from Ref. [101].

5.4. Methacrylate polymers (polyacrylates or acrylics) oil tion for oil sorption [96]. Table 5 illustrates the features of acrylate
sorbents based oil sorbents.

Feng and Xiao prepared co-polymer fibers from butyl methacry-

late and lauryl methacrylate which showed positive oil absorbency
for different oils [93]. A ternary co-polymer (styrene/butyl
methacrylate/stearyl methacrylate) with oil sorption capacities
for combating oil spills was investigated by Feng et al. [94].
A porous co-polymer from styrene and butyl methacrylate (as
monomers) was reported having oil absorbency for crude oil of
about 9 g/g [95]. Similarly, a high oil-absorption co-polymer from
butyl methacrylate (BMA) and short-chain methyl methacrylate
(MMA) (as monomers) was prepared by suspension emulsion
polymerization [96]. Porous microspheres were prepared by co-
polymerization of stearyl methacrylate and butyl acrylate having
an oil absorbency of about 28 g/g for diesel oil and material can be
used up to 12 times [97]. The electro-spun fibrous mat based on
polymethacrylate was also prepared via suspension polymeriza-
5.5. Oil sorbents based on miscellaneous polymers
Bukharova et al., used polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for oil
sorption. Although capacity values of about 1.5–2.5 g/g were much
lower than commercial oil sorbents but this study had addressed
the issue of utilization of waste plastic [99]. In another work,
nylon bags were able to separate more than 95% of contaminated
gear oil from a 4.5% oil-in-water emulsion [100]. A copolymer of
styrene and butyl acrylate was electro-spun to get fibrous mem-
branes which had the capacity to sorb high viscosity oils [101].
Magnetic sponges made up of composite polydimethylsiloxane
PDMS/MWNT were synthesized which had sorption capacity of
6–12 g/g comparable to commercial sorbents as illustrated in Fig. 6.
Moreover, it has good recyclability and selectivity for oils and
organic solvents [101]. In another study, oil sorbent based on cotton
 J. Saleem et al. / Journal of Hazardous Materials 341 (2018) 424–437
coated with polydimethylsiloxane was reported which possessed
a water contact angle of more than 150◦ and was able to absorb
30–65 times oil relative to their weight [102]. Table 6 summarizes
the properties of oil sorbents based on miscellaneous polymers.
6. Future prospects
Plastic waste degrades slowly and special equipment and pro-
cessing plants are needed to recover the energy and useful products
from these wastes. Plastic based waste materials are based on var-
ious polymers such as polypropylene, polyurethane, polystyrene,
polyethylene, etc. The plastic based oil sorbents are light weight,
porous, hydrophobic materials which possess buoyancy and the
required mechanical strengths for repeated use for cleaning oil
slicks from the surface of sea water.
It is anticipated that the research on the cleaning of oil spills on
oceans using plastic materials will continue as they provide two
major benefits: (a) control and clean oil spills and (b) vastly reduce
the huge debris produced by plastics. However more research
is needed to develop oil sorbents which are low cost with high
reusability.
The recycling of plastic wastes is an energy intensive process.
Therefore research is also needed to produce new useful products
with minimum use of energy. Moreover, the recycling of plastic
materials involves lengthy/complex steps and is more difficult than
the recovery of metals such as iron, copper etc. from metal wastes.
The chemical research should be done to make the recycling of
plastic easier, straight forward and environmentally friendly so that
such units can be installed in every city.
Another important challenge in this research is the heterogene-
ity of plastic waste composition and the unavailability of reliable
data of waste composition which hinders the reproducibility of var-
ious studies done to convert plastic wastes into useful oil sorbents.
To synthesize oil sorbents from plastic polymers involves various
complex steps, equipment (e.g. mixers, extruders and hot press)
and high temperature conditions. Hence more effort should be
devoted to find facile and low temperature safe synthesis methods
in future.
With the advent of nanotechnology, various nanomaterials are
recently fabricated with sorption capacities much higher than poly-
mer based sorbents hence further work is required to increase their
capacity values. Various useful properties of nanomaterials e.g. high
mechanical strength of CNTs can be harnessed by making compos-
ite structures of polymers with them so that these sorbents can
work in harsh environments. Many previous studies also neglected
to determine the uptake kinetics of sorption which should be incor-
porated in future studies. The morphology of the sorbent plays an
important role in determining the sorption properties of the mate-
rial especially in sponge type sorbents having a three dimensional
porous structure so an effort should be made to understand struc-
tural property relationships of these porous materials such as effect
of pore size, shape and porosity on uptake capacity and kinetics of
various oils and organic solvents.
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