Biosorbent with superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity for spilled oil removal

The development of efficient and sustainable sorbents for emergent oil cleanup has attracted tremendous attention. In this study, the feasibility of enzymatic grafting of octadecylamine (ODA) on corn stalk pith (CSP) by laccase-TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl) treatment for enhanced oil–water separation was investigated. The dynamic contact angle tests suggest that the modified CSP (LCSP) had higher hydrophobicity (WCA, 157.2˚) and lipophilicity (OCA, 0˚) than the CSP did. In addition, the introduction of ODA onto the surface of modified CSP was verified by a variety of characterization techniques including SEM, FT-IR, and XPS. Compared with the control, laccase-TEMPO treatment of CSP coupled with octadecylamine grafting greatly improved the oil sorption capacity from 13.24 g/g to 44.25 g/g, while substantially reduced the water sorption capacity from 15.52 g/g to 2.76 g/g. LCSP has fast kinetic (sorption equilibrium reached before 60 min) and high fits to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The results obtained in this study reveal the feasibility of using Laccase-TEMPO treatment to graft the ODA onto the surface of CSP, thereby enhancing the rate and capacity of oil separation from oily water. The method and sorbent developed in this study hold promise for green, simple and cost-effective oil cleanup during oil spillage emergency events. [Display omitted] •The sorption ability of corn stalk pith was enhanced after modification by laccase/TEMPO.•This sorbent achieves remarkable superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity.•The maximum capacity for machine oil was found to be 44.25 g/g.•Surface hydrophobicity played an important role in the sorption process.•This work provides insight into the novel strategy of laccase-catalyzed octadecylamine functional modification.