Abstract
Biosorbents have been highlighted as an alternative method for the removal of contaminants from spills or leaks of oil and its derivatives, since they are biodegradable, are highly available, low-cost, and have a good sorption capacity. This research investigated the sorption capacity of Calotropis procera fiber in natura (CP) and thermally treated (150 °C and 200 °C) for crude oil removal and recovery. The oil sorption tests were carried out in a dry and water (layer) static systems. The assays revealed that CP fiber has excellent hydrophobic-oil properties and good crude oil sorption capacity, about 75 times its own weight (76.32 g/g). The results of the treated fibers, CPT150 and CPT200, showed oil sorption capacities (in 24 h) higher than CP, between 94.31–103.37 g/g and 124.60–180.95 g/g, respectively. The results from sample CPT200 showed that it can be an excellent biosorbent for the removal of crude oil and other derivatives due to its high hydrophobicity, great reuse/resorption capacity, and ability to retain oil within the fiber lumens. Thus, it can be applied in the recovery, cleaning, and removal of petroleum products and its derivatives from spills and leaks in the future.
Highlights
The increase in the production and transportation of petroleum products in recent years increased the risk of oil spill and chemical leaks, since these organic solvents are toxic and can cause serious damages to the environment [1,2,3,4]
The FTIR spectra indicated that after the thermal treatments at 150 ◦ C and 200 ◦ C there was a slowdown and disappearance of some peaks, which may be correlated with the partial wax removal
The SEM-FEG micrographs revealed the morphology of the surface Calotropis procera (CP), CPT150, and CPT200 in which there is a hollow structure with lumens that allows the fixation of the oil
Summary
The increase in the production and transportation of petroleum products in recent years increased the risk of oil spill and chemical leaks, since these organic solvents are toxic and can cause serious damages to the environment [1,2,3,4]. The impacts of oil pollution are unprecedented, since it disturbs marine life, soil, and air, and it is still a threat to human health with repercussions even in tourism and leisure. During an event of oil leakage, factors such as composition, density, dispersion, emulsification, and evaporation [8] influence the choice of the technique for fast countermeasures to collect and recover the product in order to minimize its pollution potential [9]. The main technologies used for cleaning oil leaks from the water surface are (i) physical diffusion [10], (ii) in situ burning [11], (iii) bioremediation [12], and (iv) mechanical recovery [13].
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