Composite nanofiber formation using a mixture of cellulose acetate and activated carbon for oil spill treatment

Oil and organic pollutants are significant disasters affecting the aquatic ecosystem and human health. A novel nanofiber composite from cellulose acetate/activated carbon (CA/AC) was successfully fabricated by the electrospinning technique. CA/AC nanofiber composites were prepared from 10% (w/v) polymer solutions dissolving in DMA/acetone ratio 1:3 (v/v) with adding three different percentages of AC (3.7, 5.5, and 6.7%) to the total weight of CA. The prepared CA/AC nanofiber composite morphology reveals randomly oriented bead-free fibers with submicron fiber diameter. CA/AC nanofiber composites were further characterized by TGA, DSC, and surface area analysis. Water uptake was investigated for fabricated fibers at different pH. Oil adsorption was conducted in both static (oil only) and dynamic (oil/water) systems to estimate the adsorption capacity of prepared composites to treat heavy and light machine oils. The results showed increased oil adsorption capacity incorporating activated carbon into CA nanofiber mats. The maximum sorption capacity reached 8.3 and 5.5 g/g for heavy and light machine oils obtained by CA/AC5.5 (AC, 5.5%). A higher oil uptake was reported for the CA/AC composite nanofibers and showed a constant sorption capacity after the second recycles in the reusability test. Of isotherm models, the most applicable model was the Freundlich isotherm model. The result of kinetic models proved the fit of the pseudo-second-order kinetic model to the adsorption system.