Effect of substrate geometry on oil sorption capacity of raw and chemically modified jute fibre

Abstract

In this paper jute fibre was modified with three different chemical modification techniques namely acetylation using acetic anhydride, grafting using butyl acrylate monomer and fatty acid modification using oleic acid to increase the oil sorption capacity of the fibre. All the above modifications were carried out in fibrous as well as nonwoven form to study the effect of substrate geometry on oil sorption capacity. It was found that oil sorption capacity of the chemically modified jute fibres was higher than that of the raw fibres and in case of the chemically modified nonwoven it was much higher than the raw as well as modified loose fibres. Reusability of the modified substrates was also tested and it was found that all the substrates could be squeezed to recover oil and reused at least three times. Nonwoven fabric’s substrate geometry permits easy rolling-in and rolling-out of the fabric for the recovery of the oil from the surface of the water. Also these oil sorption-active materials being biodegradable can be used to substitute non-biodegradable synthetic materials in oil spill cleanup.