Preparation and Characterization of Platanus fruit fibers as Natural Sorbent of Oil

Abstract

Oil spills have a global concern due to its environmental and economic impact. Various systems have been developed to control these spills, including the use of fibers as sorbents.

Plant biomass is renewable resource that can be converted into useful materials. PFFs, an agricultural wastes, was used as a sorbent material. The present study examines the adsorption capacity of raw Platanus fruit fibers for different types and concentration of oil in water. The investigation revealed that the efficiency of fibers to remove oil from water was related to the surface properties of the fibers, concentration of the oil, amount of the fibers, as well as the temperature of the oil. The results show high sorption efficiency of PFFs for different kinds and concentration of oil. This sorbent also exhibited a good reusability since the decrease in sorption efficiency did not exceed 30% of the initial value after three sorption cycles. The natural renewable PFFs are proved to be a promising sorbent for large scale removal of spilled oils from water.