Investigation of acetylated kapok fibers on the sorption of oil in water

Kapok fibers have been acetylated for oil spill cleanup in the aqueous environment. The structures of raw and acetylated kapok fiber were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Without severe damage to the lumen structures, the kapok fibers were successfully acetylated and the resulting fibers exhibited a better oil sorption capacity than raw fibers for diesel and soybean oil. Compared with high viscosity soybean oil, low viscosity diesel shows a better affinity to the surface of acetylated fibers. Sorption kinetics is fitted well by the pseudo second-order model, and the equilibrium data can be described by the Freundlich isotherm model. The results implied that acetylated kapok fiber can be used as the substitute for non-biodegradable oil sorption materials.