Superhydrophobic and self-cleaning electrospun microfibers from recycled styrofoam
Ahmed Olanrewaju Ijaola, Damilola O. Akamo, Adekanmi Miracle Adeyinka, Qamar Saberi, Deniz Köken, Eylem Asmatulu
Abstract
Plastic debris and its fragments are carriers of harmful substances in the marine ecosystem, which has called for much-needed attention over the last few years. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is a major marine pollutant. Herein, we explain the fabrication of novel water-repellent and self-cleaning microfibers via electrospinning of a polymeric solution with 5, 10, and 15 wt% of inclusions to manipulate their surface, thermal, and wetting properties. Surface chemistry, surface morphology, thermal degradation, wettability, and self-cleaning performance of the produced microfibers were investigated. It was observed that microfibers with 15 wt% inclusion exhibited the best thermal stability among all microfibers above 400 °C. Also, the addition of micro/nanoinclusions improved the strength and number of absorption peaks of the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra, in turn forming more functional groups. The incorporation of 15 wt% inclusion, after heat treatment at 70 °C for 6 h, produced the most superhydrophobic surface with the best self-cleaning performance with water contact angle of 172.44° ± 3.13°, contact angle hysteresis of 107.67° ± 5.94, and surface roughness of 21442 nm. Heat treatment and the concentration of micro/nanoinclusions significantly affected the self-cleaning capability of the fabricated microfibers. The fabricated microfibers could be used for anti-fogging and antibacterial applications, debris removal, and water–oil separation.