Synthesis and Thermal Characterization of a Styrene–butadiene Rubber/Maleic Anhydride Oleogel for Potential Oil-contaminated Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Aims: To prepare a styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR)/maleic anhydride formulation in heptane and characterise its thermal behaviour by simultaneous thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, with emphasis on the temperature regions relevant to subsequent sorbent development for oil-contaminated water. Study Design: Laboratory synthesis followed by instrumental thermal characterisation of the dried product. Place and Duration of Study: Tashkent Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Tashkent, Uzbekistan; experimental work was conducted in 2026. Methodology: A 10 wt% solution of SBR in heptane was prepared and heated under reflux at 80–90 °C. Maleic anhydride (0.3 g) and hydrogen peroxide (0.1 g) were added, and the reaction was continued for 7–8 h. The isolated product was dried at 60 °C. Simultaneous TGA/DTA was performed on a Shimadzu DTG-60 under argon (80 mL min⁻¹) from approximately 10 to 600 °C at 10 °C min⁻¹ using an alumina reference. Results: The thermogram showed a small low-temperature mass-loss interval extending to approximately 314 °C, followed by the dominant decomposition interval from approximately 314 to 602 °C. The instrument output reported two principal endothermic events with peak temperatures of 449.49 and 551.91 °C. Absolute interval mass losses were 0.356 and 4.423 mg, respectively. Because the instrument-reported interval percentages slightly exceed 100% when summed, the present interpretation relies primarily on the absolute mass-loss values, temperature intervals and thermal-event positions rather than on the summed percentages. Conclusion: The SBR/maleic anhydride formulation exhibits a broad high-temperature decomposition region and two distinct endothermic events. These data provide a reproducible thermal baseline for the material, but chemical bonding, network structure and oil-sorption performance require independent confirmation by complementary structural and performance measurements before application-level claims are made.