Polycarbonate and activated charcoal-engineered electrospun nanofibers for selective recovery of oil/solvent from oily wastewater

Abstract

Present study reports polycarbonate (PC) nanofibers functionalized with industrial grade activated charcoal for emphatic oil-water separation and recovery of petroleum oils and organic solvents from oily wastewater. The developed PC nanofibers demonstrate hydrophobicity (water contact angle of 133°) and oleophilicity (oil and/-or solvent contact angle is equal to 0°), simultaneously. The functionalized PC nanofibers exhibit average permeation flux of 10,834.5 L m −2 h −1 and 39,886.5 L m −2 h −1 toward diesel, and n-Hexane solvent, respectively. Developed PC nanofibers demonstrated an excellent oil recovery toward petroleum oil products like petrol, diesel, and engine oil, which was found to be 308%, 872%, and 1738%, respectively, till 10 washing cycles. Thermogravimetric analysis of developed PC nanofibers revealed thermal stability up to 350 °C, thereby demonstrating its applicability in harsh environmental conditions. Functionalization of PC polymer nanofibers with activated charcoal was confirmed using FTIR study. The morphological analysis of charcoal functionalized PC nanofibers revealed a heterogeneous rough patterned textures with a porosity (which facilitate the air-pockets for improved hydrophobicity) manifesting inside the fibers. The pH-based performance (pH range of 2-14) demonstrated that the developed microfibers maintain its hydrophobicity ad service durability under harsh acidic and alkaline mediums (corrosive environments). The PC nanofibers demonstrate simultaneous hydrophobic-oleophilic behavior which is well explained using principal Cassie-Baxter's theory. The successive results demonstrate that the activated charcoal functionalized PC microfibers could be successfully utilized for practical recovery of oil/organic solvents from oily wastewater, and for the oil-spill cleanups.

Effect of microplastics in water and aquatic systems

“…Microplastics provide habitat for growing microorganisms, due to their size and varying effects (Yang et al 2020 ). Microplastics can readily accrue and release hazardous organic pollutants like DDT, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and other additives that incorporate during manufacture present in water, thereby elevating their concentration (Gonte and Balasubramanian 2012 ; Gore et al 2017 , 2018a , b , 2019a , b , c , 2020 ; Thakur and Kandasubramanian 2019 ; Rajhans et al 2019 ; Campanale et al 2020 ). As the particle size reduces, it reverberates in the elevation of potential harms of microplastics, but its adverse effects in marine organisms are not well defined (Law and Thompson 2014 ).…”

Emerging environmentally friendly bio-based nanocomposites for the efficient removal of dyes and micropollutants from wastewater by adsorption: a comprehensive review

“…High-purity lactic acid (LA) is produced by microbial fermentation. 94 Lactic acid is a starting material for the chemical synthesis of polylactic acid (PLA) of a predetermined molecular weight from abundant and renewable raw materials like starch. Moreover, PLA is produced in a zero-waste manner and can be broken down entirely by microorganisms in the natural environment aer its use, effectively recycling itself in the process.…”

Oil Spills- Where We Were, Where We Are, And Where We Will Be? A Bibliometric and Content Analysis Discourse

“…Cluster 3: Documents in this cluster relate to areas like environmental monitoring 27,67 changing environment on marginal coral reefs 104 and Polycyclic aromatic compounds in marine bird species 88 . Cluster 4: This cluster highlighted areas such as probabilistic risk assessment of oil spills 45 , polycarbonate and activated charcoal for emphatic oil-water separation 38 and impact of oil spills on marine mammals with polar cod responses 34 .…”