Development of a Novel, Highly Hydrophobic, and Magnetic Adsorbent for Oil – Water Separation: Optimization Using Response Surface Methodology

Document Type : Original Article

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Chemistry Department, College of Science, University of Hafr Al Batin, P.O. Box 1803, Hafr Al Batin 39524, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Efficient oil-water separation is crucial for mitigating environmental pollution, necessitating the development of high-performance adsorbents. This study presents the design, fabrication, and laboratory evaluation of wheat straw (WS) decorated with magnetic iron oxide (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles for enhanced oil-water separation. This novel magnetic nanocomposite adsorbent was synthesized by covalent binding of stearic acid (SA) to WS-coated magnetic nanoparticles (WS@Fe3O4 MNPs) using a green microwave solvent-less technique. FT-IR, XRD, SEM, and TEM were used to characterize the newly developed nanocomposite. In the present study, a Box-Behnken experimental design (BBD) was used to determine the optimal values for three efficient and independent characteristics that affect the efficiency of oil removal from seawater; the amount of WS@Fe3O4 MNPs/SA in grams, the amount of oil in grams and the adsorption time (min). The optimum values of WS@Fe3O4 MNPs/SA weight, oil weight, and adsorption time for high adsorption capacity were 500 mg, 5.5 g, and 15 min, respectively. According to these data, WS@Fe3O4 MNPs/SA has a high adsorption capacity of 12.444 g/g for oil in water.
 

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