Synthesis and Characterization of a Hydrogel-Coated Stainless Steel Mesh for Crude Oil /Water Separation

Hydrogels are widely used as coagulants in water treatment because they contain a lot of water, have good separation capacity, are hydrophilic, and are biocompatible. This study focused on hydrogels reinforced on a stainless-steel mesh to separate oil from a crude oil/water mixture. Different amounts of water-soluble AM copolymers were polymerized to produce acrylamide-reinforced AM hydrogels. A comparative study was conducted on the performance of polyacrylamide (PAM) coated stainless steel mesh with AM hydrogels at concentrations of 40, 50, and 60 wt% during water/oil separation. To compare, the solution was fully polymerized with UV light (360 nanometers) illuminated on the hydrogel-loaded stainless-steel mesh within 80 min. This process caused the liquid to undergo photo-crystallization, transforming it into a photocatalytic hydrogel. An investigation was made into how the copolymer concentration affects the separation performance of the hydrogels. Based on the composition of the oil/water mixture, samples with ratios of 10/90, 25/75, 50/50, 75/25, and 90/10 were selected. Several analyses, including Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and underwater contact angle measurements, were performed on the three AM concentrations. These analyses characterized the AM hydrogel samples, while Gas Chromatography (GC) was used to evaluate oil/water separation effectiveness. After 6 minutes, the Crude Oil/water (R) removal efficiency reached 96.7% at 50% AM with a 10/90 ratio.