Abstract:

Amphiphilic polypeptoids functionalized halloysite nanotubes have been synthesized and characterized as stabilizers in oil-water emulsions for oil spill remediation. Multiple characterizations have been applied to demonstrate the successful polymer grafting which will improve the stability of oil droplets in oil-water emulsion.

Suggested Citation:

Tianyi Yu, Donghui Zhang. 2017. Synthesis of Amphiphilic Polypeptoid- Functionalized Halloysites Nanotubes (HNTs) as Stabilizer for Oil Spill Remediation. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7125R29

Publications:

Yu, T., Swientoniewski, L. T., Omarova, M., Li, M.-C., Negulescu, I. I., Jiang, N., … Zhang, D. (2019). Investigation of Amphiphilic Polypeptoid-Functionalized Halloysite Nanotubes as Emulsion Stabilizer for Oil Spill Remediation. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 11(31), 27944–27953. doi:10.1021/acsami.9b08623

Purpose:

Halloysites nanotubes (HNTs), a class of naturally occurring aluminosilicate (Al2O3 2SiO2 2H2O) clay nanotubes, were previously shown to effectively stabilize oil-in-water emulsions. The HNTs are absorbed at the oil-water interface with desorption energy that is dependent on the particle size and wettability. The steric and electrostatic barriers created by HNTs between oil droplets inhibit the coalescence and coarsening of the oil droplets. In contrast to surfactants, pristine HNTs do not significantly reduce the interfacial tension. To further control the wettability and interfacial activity of HNTs, we investigated the functionalization of HNTs with amphiphilic polypeptoids, a class of new biocompatible peptidomimetic polymers.

Data Parameters and Units:

Thermogravimetric analysis and transmission electron microscopy were applied to verify the successful polymer grafting and weight fraction of the grafted polymers. Measurement of interfacial tension and contact angel at the three-phase interface (i.e., dodecane, halloysite particle and saline water) were also conducted in this reporting period. 1H-NMR was applied to analyze the copolymers compositions and molecular weight. FT-IR was used applied to confirm the polymer grafting on the HNTs. Temperature (deg C), Wavenumber (cm-1), Time (s), Density, Date (MM/DD/YYYY), Tilt, Theta (R), Theta (L), Mean, Standard deviation, Weight (%), Average interfacial tension (mN/m), Polymer loading (weight %), Time (hr), Abundance (cells/mL)

Instruments:

1H NMR were recorded on a Bruker AV-400 Nanobay spectrometer, and the chemical shifts in parts per million (ppm) were referenced to protio impurities of CDCl3 and CD2Cl2. Fourier transform infrared radiation (FTIR) spectra were collected with a Bruker Alpha FTIR spectrometer. Zeta Potential analysis was conducted on a Malvern Zetasizer Nano-ZS instrument using zetasizer software 6.12. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) The morphology of the particles was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Hitachi S-4700) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM, JEOL 2010, operated at 200 kV). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the samples was performed in an air environment at a heating rate of 10°C/min using a TA Instruments SDT 2960 simultaneous DTA-TGA. Interfacial tension and contact angle were measured using the pendant drop method on a standard Ramé -Hart model 250 goniometer.

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