Facile Preparation of Magnetic Poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) Foam and Its Application as an Oil Absorbent

A simple processing technique to produce novel magnetic poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) (Poly(St-DVB)) monoliths with highly open porous structure and lipophilicity is described. A porosity of 98.1% was achieved with the technique of high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). The porous monolith possessed hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 142° and absorbed oils from water selectively with an oil intake capacity of approximately 23 times its own mass. Incorporation of carbonyl iron powders (CIPs) enabled magnetism allowing the oil-soaked composite to be readily collected by a magnet. The composite saturated with oils could be regenerated by simple centrifugation, and the tests showed that the oil intake capacities were not impaired after 10 absorption/regeneration cycles. As Poly(St-DVB) is a low-cost traditional material and is easily manufactured in monolithic forms via direct molding and controlled polymerization, the added features make the porous Poly(St-DVB) composite a very competitive candidate for oil/water separation.