Renewable Eugenol-Based Polymeric Oil-Absorbent Microspheres: Preparation and Oil Absorption Ability

This article reports a novel type of polymeric microspheres derived from a renewable biomass, eugenol, via a facile and effective suspension polymerization approach. On the basis of eugenol and methacryloyl chloride, we first synthesized and then structurally identified the monomer eugenyl methacrylate (E-MA). By using E-MA as the sole monomer and simultaneously as the cross-linking agent, we successfully prepared cross-linked polymeric microspheres through suspension polymerization in aqueous media with 2,2-azoisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as the initiator and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as the stabilizer. The resulting microspheres were obtained in high yield with diameters ranging 500–800 μm and exhibited remarkably large oil absorbency in a relatively high speed. The microspheres can be reused for at least five times with little change in maximum absorption. The preparative strategy for the polymeric microspheres can be taken as a versatile platform for preparing more functional polymeric microspheres, which are expected to find significant applications in environmental protection and other fields.