A green and facile approach to prepare polylactide/kapok monoliths for a sustainable and reusable oil sorbent

The three-dimensional polylactide (PLA)/kapok monolith with hierarchical porous structures was first prepared via the non-solvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) method. Kapok fibers were preferred to be used as oil adsorbing materials due to their extensive resource, low cost, and excellent oil sorption capacity. However, the fibrous assemblies of kapok formed by adhesives could not be degraded naturally. In this study, PLA and kapok fibers could be regarded as dispersed medium and dispersed phase, respectively. PLA and kapok fibers were physically combined without any binder. The resulting PLA/kapok monoliths exhibited the integrated properties of superior hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 141 degrees, rapid absorption rate, high oil absorption of 17.34 g/g and reutilization. The degradability of raw materials, excellent oil absorption performance, and simplicity of the preparation technology make the monolith have potential in oil/water separation and oil pollution treatment.