Superhydrophobic and Superoleophilic Fiber from Waste Bamboo Processing Residues for Oil/water Selective Separation

Abstract

Biomass materials have attracted increasing attention as oil absorbents for oil/water separation duo to their renewability, biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, many separation materials preparations are either rather time consuming or have suffered from the need of harsh conditions. In the present study, bamboo fiber was successfully modified to acquire simultaneously super-hydrophobic and super-oleophilic properties by just two steps: delignification and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The morphology and properties of MTMS-bamboo fiber were characterized by SEM, FT-IR, XPS and the oil/water contact angles. Moreover, the durability, recyclability and the practical application of selective separation were studied. The analysis results disclosed that the special surface wetting properties of MTMS-bamboo fiber resulted from the silanization of the bamboo fiber surface, notably, from its water contact angle being 153° and oil contact angle 0°. The fiber so prepared exhibited excellent durability in several kinds of chemical solutions. The absorbed oil can be recovered by simple mechanical squeezing and the bamboo fiber maintained a high oil absorption capacity after multiple squeezing-absorption cycles. The modified fiber acted as an absorbent for hot water oil/water separation and demonstrated also a high oil separation capacity. The continuous separation efficiency of the MTMS-bamboo fiber was investigated.