Expanded polystyrene (EPS) waste upcycling and efficient oil/water emulsion separation with advanced EPS-cotton membranes

The current work describe the fabrication of an oleophilic and hydrophobic EPS-cotton membrane through a facile one-step process, involving the immersion of pristine cotton fabric in a freshly prepared solution of EPS in tetrahydrofuran (THF). The characterization of EPS-cotton membrane is carried out using FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and contact angle measurements. The EPS-cotton membrane exhibits remarkable absorption capacity for diesel, gasoline, olive oil, and canola oil, i.e., 0.21 gg-1, 0.13 gg-1, 3.7 gg-1 and 0.40 gg-1, respectively. Using vacuum filtration, the membrane effectively segregates diesel oil, gasoline, olive oil, and canola oil emulsions from water. The flux of membrane for diesel oil, gasoline, olive oil, and canola oil emulsions with water is found to be 133 LMH, 207 LMH, 59 LMH and 89 LMH, respectively. Moreover, the water rejection (%) remains above 95 % in all cases. The separated samples are monitored through FTIR and UV/ Vis, which suggests high separation efficiency of EPS-cotton membrane. Furthermore, FTIR and SEM analyses of EPS-cotton membrane before and after separations demonstrate suitable membrane stability, allowing for at least six cycles of effective use. EPS-cotton membrane fabrication not only facilitates the eco-friendly recycling of waste plastics but also promises versatile applications in environmental remediation.