The increasing number of oil spill accidents have a catastrophic impact on our aquatic environment. Recently, special wettable materials used for the oil/water separation have received significant research attention. Due to their opposing affinities towards water and oil, i.e., hydrophobic and oleophilic, or hydrophilic and oleophobic, such materials can be used to remove only one phase from the oil/water mixture, and simultaneously repel the other phase, thus achieving selective oil/water separation. Moreover, the synergistic effect between the surface chemistry and surface architecture can further promote the superwetting behavior, resulting in the improved separation efficiency. Here, recently developed materials with special wettability for selective oil/water separation are summarized and discussed. These materials can be categorized based on their oil/water separating mechanisms, i.e., filtration and absorption. In each section, representative studies will be highlighted, with emphasis on the materials wetting properties and innovative aspects. Finally, challenges and future research directions in this emerging and promising research field will be briefly described.

Recent Development of Advanced Materials with Special Wettability for Selective Oil/Water Separation.

A review of bio-based materials for oil spill treatment.

Advanced fabrication and oil absorption properties of super-hydrophobic recycled cellulose aerogels

Oil removal from aqueous state by natural fibrous sorbent: An overview

An overview of oil-water separation using gas flotation systems.

Kinetics of oil and oil products adsorption by carbonized rice husks

Effects of the pyrolysis process on the oil sorption capacity of rice husk

The use of sorbents, obtained from renewable wastes to purify the hydrosphere from various hazardous pollutants is an innovative approach with multiplied environmental effect. In this regard, there is interest in the processing of rice husks and converting them into an effective biosorbent for purification of water fr om oil pollution. By slow pyrolysis of rice husk at 480°C pyrolysis charcoal was obtained. The product was divided into fractions with sizes in the range from 0,4 to 2,0 mm. Each fraction was tested with respect to adsorption of crude oil from water surface gravimetrically and as emulsified in aqueous media by a batch-method. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of the factor “granulometry of the adsorbent” on the sorption kinetics and efficiency of the material for both cases of contamination. An attempt had been made the kinetics of the pro cess to be described by kinetic models, most often used for adsorption from aqueous media: Lagergren’s equation; second order kinetics equation; Weber-Morris’s diffusion equation and Elovich equation.

Liquid-phase sorption of oil by carbonized rice husks: impact of grain size distribution on the sorption kinetics

Biodiesel is a reliable and promising replacement of fossil diesel. It is stable, less toxic and can be produced from sustainable resources, including a variety of raw materials. Currently, the most widely used are vegetable oils (edible and nonedible), due to their availability. The present paper considers the potential of obtaining fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) from corn oil, which is a byproduct of bioethanol production process. The ultimate outcome would definitely increase the profitability of the initial bioethanol production process. The biodiesel production process was implemented in two steps, due to the high content of free fatty acids of the obtained corn oil. The first step includes an acid-catalyzed esterification process and the second step comprises an alkali-catalyzed transesterification process to receive FAEE. Two different catalysts (sulfuric acid and p-toluene sulfonic acid) were utilized and compared each other in the esterification process, in order to cope with high acid number of the raw material. A comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis of both feedstock and biodiesel was performed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method. The obtained biodiesel was characterized by a significantly lower cloud point compared to the feedstock and high acid number.

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D. Angelova

Papers

Kinetics of oil and oil products adsorption by carbonized rice husks

Effects of the pyrolysis process on the oil sorption capacity of rice husk

Liquid-phase sorption of oil by carbonized rice husks: impact of grain size distribution on the sorption kinetics

Biodiesel production from high free fatty acid byproduct of bioethanol production process