Hot Water Treatment on Nettle Fibers: An Environment-Friendly/Economical Process for the Production of Oil Sorbent

Abstract

In this work, “green” oil sorbent was prepared from nettle fibers by hot water treatment. Effects of hot water treatment temperature, oil-sorbent contact time and reusability on oil absorbency were investigated systematically. Maximum oil absorbency of 15.89 g/g against engine oil and 13.10 g/g against diesel oil was achieved at hot water treatment temperature 100°C and oil-sorbent contact time 15 min. SEM was used to characterize the surface morphology and FTIR confirmed the chemical changes after hot water treatment. Thermal stability of the nettle fibers before and after hot water treatment was analyzed by TGA. A comparison of oil sorption capacity of nettle fibers treated with different solvents/chemicals is also presented. This work demonstrates that hot water-treated nettle fibers are an economical and eco-friendly biosorbent for oil spill removal applications.

Keywords

• oil sorbent
• nettle
• hot water treatment
• oil sorption capacity
• cellulosic fiber