Cotton Fiber-Based Sorbents for Treating Crude Oil Spills

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Science
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Natural sorbent materials like wood and plant fibers are explored for aquatic oil spill treatment.
• Existing natural sorbents have limited effectiveness due to simultaneous absorption of water and oil.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the performance of cotton fibers as a sorbent for crude oil through chemical pretreatment.
• To investigate the modification of cotton fibers with C18 fatty acids to improve oil sorption and water repulsion.

Main Methods:

• Cotton fibers were chemically modified with C18 fatty acid using simple leaving group chemistry.
• Characterization of modified fibers using X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR, ¹³C CP/MAS SSNMR, and SEM.
• Evaluation of oil sorption capacity and water rejection in the presence of seawater.

Main Results:

• C18 fatty acid modification created highly oleophilic cotton fibers with increased water contact angles.
• Modified cotton fibers showed significantly greater oil sorption and water rejection compared to raw cotton.
• Maximum oil sorption capacity reached 35.58 g/g, a ~49% increase over raw cotton.

Conclusions:

• Chemical modification with C18 fatty acids effectively enhances cotton's oleophilicity and oil sorption capabilities.
• Modified cotton fibers demonstrate superior performance in treating aquatic oil spills by selectively absorbing oil and repelling water.
• This approach offers a promising strategy for developing advanced natural sorbent materials for environmental remediation.