Ren Junpeng, Yang Xiuheng, Wang Yu, Zhang Shijiang, Zhou Jinkang
School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Guizhou Education University, Gaoxin Road, Wudang District, Guiyang, 550018, People's Republic of China.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 6;15(1):11792. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-96059-7.
Oil spills pose a major environmental challenge, highlighting the urgent need for effective materials capable of achieving efficient oil-water separation to mitigate their detrimental impacts. While various bio-based and synthetic adsorbents have been explored for this purpose, existing materials often suffer from low adsorption capacity, poor reusability, limited hydrophobicity, or environmental concerns. In particular, natural bio-based materials frequently exhibit inherent hydrophilicity, limiting their effectiveness in selective oil adsorption. To address this gap, we developed a novel bio-based oil adsorbent derived from sphagnum moss, modified via sequential pretreatment with hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydroxide, followed by chemical functionalization with silane. This modification enhanced hydrophobicity and structural stability, overcoming the limitations of unmodified bio-based adsorbents. Characterization using SEM, XPS, FTIR, and TGA confirmed the successful grafting of hydrophobic functional groups and the formation of a uniformly rough surface, leading to a water contact angle of 157°. Comparative analysis demonstrated that the modified sphagnum moss exhibited a significantly enhanced adsorption capacity of 22.756 g/g for motor oil, outperforming conventional bio-based adsorbents, including currently prevalent biological adsorbents (1.69-12.8 g/g) and biochar (8.1-18.2 g/g). Furthermore, the adsorption kinetics conformed to a pseudo-second-order model, indicating chemisorption as the dominant mechanism. This suggests strong interactions between oil molecules and the functionalized surface, contributing to enhanced efficiency and selectivity. These findings highlight the novelty, superior performance, and environmental compatibility of modified sphagnum moss as an effective and sustainable solution for oil spill remediation. Its high adsorption capacity, selective oil affinity, and reusability make it a promising alternative to existing bio-based adsorbents, providing an eco-friendly approach to oil spill management and environmental restoration.
石油泄漏对环境构成了重大挑战，凸显了对能够实现高效油水分离以减轻其有害影响的有效材料的迫切需求。虽然已经为此探索了各种生物基和合成吸附剂，但现有材料往往存在吸附容量低、可重复使用性差、疏水性有限或环境问题等缺点。特别是，天然生物基材料常常表现出固有的亲水性，限制了它们在选择性吸油方面的有效性。为了弥补这一差距，我们开发了一种新型的源自泥炭藓的生物基吸油剂，通过用过氧化氢和氢氧化钠进行顺序预处理，然后用硅烷进行化学功能化来进行改性。这种改性增强了疏水性和结构稳定性，克服了未改性生物基吸附剂的局限性。使用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、X射线光电子能谱（XPS）、傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）和热重分析（TGA）进行的表征证实了疏水官能团的成功接枝以及均匀粗糙表面的形成，导致水接触角为157°。对比分析表明，改性泥炭藓对机油的吸附容量显著提高，达到22.756 g/g，优于传统的生物基吸附剂，包括目前流行的生物吸附剂（1.69 - 12.8 g/g）和生物炭（8.1 - 18.2 g/g）。此外，吸附动力学符合准二级模型，表明化学吸附是主要机制。这表明油分子与功能化表面之间存在强烈的相互作用，有助于提高效率和选择性。这些发现突出了改性泥炭藓作为一种有效且可持续的石油泄漏修复解决方案的新颖性、卓越性能和环境兼容性。其高吸附容量、对油的选择性亲和力和可重复使用性使其成为现有生物基吸附剂的有前途的替代品，为石油泄漏管理和环境恢复提供了一种环保方法。
