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Updated: Apr 16, 2026
Microfluidic Devices for Characterizing Pore-scale Event Processes in Porous Media for Oil Recovery Applications
Published on: January 16, 2018
High porosity supermacroporous polystyrene materials with excellent oil-water separation and gas permeability
Shuzhen Yu1, Hongyi Tan1, Jin Wang1
1School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Two types of monolith high-porosity supermacroporous polystyrene materials had been controlled synthesized from water-in-oil Pickering emulsions. The first type, closed-cell high-porosity (up to 91%) supermacroporous (ca. 500 μm) polystyrene materials (CPPs) was prepared by employing amphiphilic carbonaceous microspheres (CMs) as high internal phase emulsion stabilizer without any inorganic salts or further modifying the wettability of the particles. The second type, hierarchical porous polystyrene materials with highly interconnected macropores (IPPs), was constructed from emulsions stabilized simultaneously by CM particles and a little amount of surfactants. Both types of these monolith porous polystyrene materials possessed excellent mechanical strength. The CPPs were used as absorbents for oil-water separation and high absorption capacity, and absorption rate for oils were realized, which was attributed to their porosity structure and the swelling property of the polystyrene, while the IPPs were highly permeable for gases due to their interconnected macropores.
