Robust Synthesis of Hydrophobic Biosorbent for Effective Oil/Organic Solvent Cleanup

Different carbon-based sorbents are widely used for the refinement of industrial as well as domestic effluent because of their availability, low cost, and excellent hydrophobicity. In this article, the activated biosorbent (ABs) material was prepared and applied to develop a membrane (ABs@Membrane) and sponge (ABs@Sponge) for effective oil and organic solvent cleanup from water mixtures. The one-pot process was adopted to prepare ABs material by the simple carbonization of naturally available cotton and biowaste chitosan with sulphuric acid. The fabricated ABs@Membrane and ABs@Sponge showed excellent hydrophobicity with excellent water contact angle, i. e., 138.06 degrees and 135.58 degrees, respectively. Moreover, the synthesized ABs@Sponge showed excellent oil/organic solvent absorption capacity in the presence of water, i. e., 40 gm of machine oil and 62 gm of chloroform. Whereas the synthesized ABs@Membrane material showed excellent oil-water separation efficiency (>90 %) and water flux (219.29 Lm-2 h-1) with a good oil rejection ratio (>91 %). The synthesized ABs@Membrane and ABs@Sponge material showed excellent recyclability performance up to 5th no of consecutive cycles. The straightforward synthesis and fabrication of ABs@Membrane and ABs@Sponge materials with excellent oil rejection ratio and oil/organic solvent separation performance open a new window in the effluent water treatment application.