Pomelo peel modified with acetic anhydride and styrene as new sorbents for removal of oil pollution

Pomelo peel (PP), as one of the well-known agricultural wastes, is cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Based on PP, two new kinds of oil sorbents were prepared by using acetic anhydride and styrene. The structures of raw pomelo peel (RP), acetic anhydride-treated pomelo peel (AP) and styrene-treated pomelo peel (SP) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact-angle (CA) measurements. The optimum reaction conditions for preparation of AP and SP were also investigated. The resulting products exhibited better oil sorption capacity than that of RP for diesel and lubricating oil, also SP had better oil sorption capacity than AP, while the oil sorption capacities of SP for diesel and lubricating oil reached 18.91 and 26.36 g/g, respectively. Adsorption kinetics was well described by the pseudo-second-order model. The results indicated that AP and SP, especially SP could be used as the substitute for non-biodegradable oil sorption materials.