Oil Spill Cleanup by Hydrophobic Natural Fibers

ABSTRACT

This article evaluates and compares on oil wetting and sorption performance of three natural fiber assemblies made by kapok, cattail and cotton fibers in application of absorbing vegetable oil. The three fibers were naturally hydrophobic and oleophilic. The water stood on the fibers’ surfaces with the contact angles between 120° and 145°, while oil droplet disappeared quickly from the fibers’ surfaces within several seconds. When applied as the oil sorbents, it was found that the three fiber assemblies showed quick oil uptake. Among them, kapok fiber assembly showed exceptionally high oil sorption and retention capacity. The presence of big hollow lumens which contributed to 77 % of the fiber’s volume was the important reason for this. Cattail fiber was bamboo-shaped. The fiber was short (3–11 mm). However, the formation of numerous of bamboo-liked lumens between neighboring fibers in cattail fiber assembly contributed to it quick oil sorption and excellent oil retention capacity, despite of relatively low oil absorbency. Although faster oil spreading comparing to kapok fibers, cotton fibers showed much lower oil absorbency and retention capacity, due to its collapsed lumens which considerably reduced its available pores for oil sorption.

摘要

本文评估和比较由木棉、香蒲和棉纤维制成的三种天然纤维样品在植物油吸收应用中的油润湿性和油吸附性。三种纤维最初都具有天然疏水性和亲油性，水滴在纤维表面上以120°和145°之间的接触角附着，而油滴在几秒钟内从纤维表面迅速消失。据观察，三种纤维样品在作为油吸附剂使用时能够快速吸油。其中，木棉纤维样品具有极高的油吸附和保留能力，原因在于大空心腔占据了其纤维体积的77%。钩编纤维为竹形，且纤维长度较短（3-11mm）。然而，在香蒲纤维样品中相邻纤维之间形成了许多竹状内腔，从而促进了其快速吸油和优异的保油能力，但其吸油性相对较低。与木棉纤维相比，棉纤维表现出更快的油铺展性，但吸油性和油保留能力低得多，原因在于其塌陷型腔体显著减少了用于吸油的可用孔隙。

KEYWORDS:

• Dynamic oil uptake
• hydrophobicity
• natural fibers
• oil retention
• oil sorbents
• oil spill

关键词:

• 动态吸油
• 疏水性
• 天然纤维
• 保油
• 油吸附剂
• 浮油

Acknowledgment

The authors are also thankful to L.R. Yang and X.L. Sun for providing help during experiments.

Funding

The research is financially supported by “the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities” under grant 14D110108 and “Donghua university doctorial innovation fund for 2014–2015” under grant CUSF-DH-D-2015003.

Additional information

Funding

The research is financially supported by “the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities” under grant 14D110108 and “Donghua university doctorial innovation fund for 2014–2015” under grant CUSF-DH-D-2015003