Buoyant oleophilic magnetic activated carbon nanoparticles for oil spill cleanup
Samia Ben Hammouda, Zhi Chen, Chunjiang An, Kenneth Lee, Ali Zaker
Abstract
In response to oil spills, it is imperative to develop efficient and eco-friendly sorbent materials. Oil remediation techniques are limited, prompting researchers to look into using nanotechnology for oil cleanup. Therefore, magnetic Fe3O4 composite nanoparticles (MNPs) were synthesized by the chemical co-precipitation method. The MNPs were then coated with activated carbon (AC) layer, followed by soybean oil/stearic acid surface decoration. The morphology and surface properties of the material were characterized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and contact angle (CA) analyses. The results showed an excellent amphiphilicity with water CA of 0° and oil CA of nearly 0°. In terms of applicability for oil recovery operations, the fabricated nanocomposite revealed sorption capacities greater than 6.5 g/g for a range of oils. In addition, the sorbent can be reused at least five times with advantageous characteristics for selective oil recovery on surface waters owning to its intense super-paramagnetic properties. Considering our results, we suggest that there is a practical application for magnetic AC nanomaterials in spilled oil response.