Kapok fiber as a natural source for fabrication of oil absorbent

Abstract

Background Plenty of oil spills cause an increasing demand for the oil sorption materials. Kapok fiber, as a kind of natural fiber, shows promising potential as oil absorbents as it is available abundantly and exhibits high absorption capacity. The superhydrophobicity kapok fiber based on graphene modified with 1H,1H,2H,2H - perfluorodecyltriclorosilane (FTS) was prepared. Results FTS modified graphene coated kapok fiber (FGRKF) were characterized by contact angle, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning and electron microscopy. After modification, the contact angle of water on kapok fiber rose from 114.7° to 150.6°. The oil sorption capacities of kapok fiber for diesel, soybean oil and lubricating oil were 27.55, 38.28 and 43.57 g/g. While, the oil sorption capacities of FGRKF for diesel, soybean oil and lubricating oil could reach 50.74, 61.08 and 68.26 g/g, respectively. Conclusion The superhydrophobic/superoleophilic FGRKF is a kind of efficient oil sorption material, which can be used as a desirable material for the cleanup of oil spills. This work also provided a simple method for fabrication of superhydrophobic oil absorption material.