Lignin-Treated-Trichloromethylsilane Sorbent for Oil Spill Cleanup

The effects of physical and chemical treatments of lignin with trichloromethylsilane (TCMS) as potential oil-spilled absorbent for waste water were investigated. The lignin was extracted from oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) through soda process method. The lignin was treated with TCMS at various time reactions. The result revealed that over 94% reduction of hydroxyl (OH) group was achieved when TCMS was used. Besides, the hydrophobicity behaviour was improved with time reaction with water contact angle from 0° to 128°. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was conducted to examine the structure and morphology of treated lignin and leads to the presence of lumps and wavy on the fibre surface. In contrast, native lignin shows a smooth surface. The treated lignin can quickly absorb carotino oil with improvement in oil capacity compared with raw fiber, respectively. As such, good environmental friendly lignin-treated-TCMS (L-TCMS) can be considered as potential alternative in oil-spill clean-ups application.