Effects of modified sugar cane and plantain pseudo-stem fibers for oil spill remediation

This article presents the experimental results on the effects of surface functionalization of plantain pseudo-stem fiber (PF) and sugar cane fiber (SF) sorbents on the absorption of crude oil and the separation oil/water mixture. The modification involved coating the SF and PF with TiO₂, graphene oxide (GO), and stearic acid (SA). The fibers were cut and sonicated in hexane and ethanol in succession for ∼45 min and dried at 60 °C for 24 h. 0.5 g of PF and SF were bagged into 2 g empty tea bags. The GO and ethanol solutions of ∼3–5 mg/mL were coated onto the SF and PF and dried for 12 h and subsequently contacted with instant ocean salt and crude oil fractions. The results show that the SA, TiO₂ nanoparticles, and GO sheets contribute a large surface area and high surface roughness which provide excellent hydrophobicity. The modified SF and PF recorded ∼144° and ∼126° from ∼63° and ∼46° contact angles as well as ∼10.29 g/g and ∼5.77 g/g absorption respectively. The sorbent materials demonstrate crude oil and oil/water separation indicating a promising technique for oil spill remediation.