The effect of superhydrophobicity of prickly shape carbonyl iron particles on the oil-water adsorption

Abstract

The separation of oil spillage from marine environments has been discussed as a global concern. Recyclable superhydrophobic magnetic particles with micro-nano structures have been considered as a potential providing a safe, practical, and easy method for removing the oil from oil-water. In this research, the hydrophobicity of magnetic particles was enhanced to achieve the maximum adsorption capacity. For this purpose, reacted carbonyl iron (CI) with glucose was reacted with stearic acid under different condition of temperature, time, and concentration. Analytical tests were performed to confirm the reaction of stearic acid with CI@glucose. The prickly shape created on the surfaces of magnetic particles led to achieving the maximum superhydrophobicity. In this connection, the optimized superhydrophobic particles based on the maximum obtained water contact angle (WCA) of 169° at 75 °C, and 3.5 h and 10% concentration of stearic acid were selected for the oil-water separation. The results revealed that the superhydrophobic particles had acceptable stability within pH range of 2–12. The adsorption capacity of the modified particles for hexane, silicone oil, gasoline, and kerosene was 4.1, 2.5, 3.1, and 3.7 g/g, respectively, with a high adsorption efficiency ( > 99.7%) in the oil-water mixture. After ten cycles of using these particles, the adsorption capacity range was 2 to 4 g/g regardless of the number of recycling times, and no significant change was observed in the contact angle.