Solvation‐Regulated Crosslink Growth of Acrylate/ SiO 2 Networks via Solution Polymerization for Low‐Temperature High‐Efficiency Oil‐Adsorption Resins

Abstract

At low temperatures, the performance of polymeric adsorbents in remediating oil spills and organic‐solvent leakage can be severely compromised by restricted segmental mobility within the polymer network. To address this limitation, an acrylate‐based oil‐adsorption resin with a low glass‐transition temperature ( T g ) was prepared through solution polymerization by regulating the solvation environment of the growing polymer chains. An ethyl acetate/isopropanol mixture (3:1 v/v) was used as the polymerization medium, with stearyl methacrylate and butyl methacrylate as comonomers and divinylbenzene as the crosslinker. KH570‐modified SiO 2 nanoparticles were incorporated in situ to construct an organic–inorganic network, denoted PSDB@SiO 2 . The PSDB@SiO 2 exhibited a T g of −29.35°C and a static water contact angle of 109.73°, providing a favorable basis for low‐temperature segmental responsiveness and organic‐liquid wetting. PSDB@SiO 2 maintained a high chloroform adsorption capacity of 40.75–51.60 g·g −1 from room temperature to −40°C. At −20°C, 82.92% of the initial adsorption capacity was retained after 10 adsorption–desorption cycles. Moreover, the material retained 99% of the adsorbed chloroform after centrifugation at 12000 rpm for 5 min and exhibited selective capture of organic liquids under simulated application conditions.