Oil Sorption and Retention Capacity of Zea mays cob and

Cocos nucifera husks as Potential Biosorbents for Oil Spill Clean-ups

A Science Investigatory Project

submitted to the
Curriculum Implementation Division
DIVISION OF ILOILO CITY

as Entry to the
2019 Division Scilympics
Science Investigatory Project Congress
September 28, 2019

JEHU JAMES C. SUSTITUIDO

Student Researcher

IME GLOR D. PARCON

SHANE CATHERINE T. BESARES
Advisers
RATIONALE

One of the main sources of water pollution is crude oil spill. Oil and petroleum products
can pollute many sources of water such as seas, oceans, rivers, or underground waters.
Because of the environmental and economical impacts of oil spill over different bodies
of water, this problem needs great attention. (Annunciado et al. 2005). Last May 2019,
there has been a reported oil spill in Barangay Sto. Niño Sur in Arevalo District (Lena
2019). Recently, motor bangka accidents in the shores of Iloilo have caused some oil
leakage (Yap and Sadongdong, 2019).

Generally, every time oil is produced, transported, stored, and used, there a possibility
of spillage. Spilled oil has a taste and odor that is undesirable, deals great impact on
tourism and economy, and leads to great environmental harm. After such time, these
oil will enter toxicity components into the human food chains and will impact our health.
Thus, spilled oil causes severe and vast environmental problems unless it is removed as
quickly as possible (Husseien et al. 2009; Sayed and Zayed 2006).

After a spill for the protection of human health and the environment, effective
decontamination and clean-ups are essential. One of the most effective approaches for
the treatment of oil spills are sorption techniques. Among the various sorbents that
have been used for oil spill remediation, synthetic materials, such as polypropylene and
polyurethanes, are the most commonly used commercial sorbents due to their oleophilic
and hydrophobic properties. However, these kinds of sorbents are expensive
(Nwadiogbu, Ajiwe and Okoye, 2016).

Natural organic sorbents have been studied for the removal of oil spill, such as, raw
sugarcane bagasse (Hussein et al., 2008; Brandão et al., 2010; Said et al., 2009), raw
and fatty-acid grafted sawdust for oil (Banerjee et al., 2006) and other pollutants
(Shukla et al., 2002), black and white rice husk ash (Vlaev et al., 2011), barley straw
(Hussein et al., 2009), banana trunk fibers (Sathasivam and Haris, 2010), acetylated
sugarcane bagasse (Chung et al., 2011; Sun et al., 2003), carbonized peat bagasse
(Hussein et al., 2009), peat-based sorbents (Cojocaru et al., 2011), and hydrophobic
aerogels for emulsified oil (Wang et al., 2010; Site 2001).

The most used and effective biosorbent in research studies is human hair. A study
demonstrated that human hair has potential for use as a low-cost, effective and
environmentally friendly biosorbent for oil spill cleanup. (Ifelebuegu et al. 2015) A
comparative analysis conducted using the maximum adsorption capacity of different
adsorbents revealed that human hair performed better than many different organics
sorbents. (Ukotije-Ikwut et al. 2016). Its efficiency is nearly 100% for free oil. Since
human hair is very cheap and not easily biodegradable the method find a good usage
for it. (Jadhav et al. 2011).

Despite having several studies performed regarding this problem, further studies are
still required. In this research, the two common and natural organic sorbents’ oil
sorption behaviors were compared, namely dried coconut husks and dried corn cobs.

These two natural organic sorbents are common and are considered as garbage at
Ramon Avanceña National High School and are all fibrous in nature, thus, were chosen
as possible prospects for the study.

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The study will provide more possible choices that could be used for remediation of oil
spills. This study will also be cost-effective compared to synthetic choices used today.

RESEARCH QUESTION
Is there a significant difference between the Oil Sorption and Retention Capacity of
Cocos nucifera husks and human hair?
Is there a significant difference between the Oil Sorption and Retention Capacity of Zea
mays cobs and human hair?

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Collection and Preparation of Plant Fibers

Cocos nucifera husks and Zea mays cobs were collected from the school’s Material
Recovery Facility. The plants samples were washed anddried at 70˚C in drying oven for
6 h and placed in desiccators. The same method was used by (Abdullah et al., 2015).

Determination of Oil Sorption Behavior

Oil Sorption and Retention Capacity

Oil sorption test was performed as follows based on ASTM Standard Method of Testing
Sorbent Performance of Adsorbents (F726-99) and based on the methodology used by
(Dong, Xu, & Wang, 2015 and Nwadiogbu, Ajiwe and Okoye, 2016 ). A 100 ml of
motoroil was firstly poured into a 500 ml beaker. 2g of plant fiber was put in the oil. 15
minutes were given for the sample to absorb the oil. The sample was lifted and
weighed using an analytical balance, then placed on a wire mesh with free oil dripping
out for 15 minutes, then weighed again after a period of 24 hours.
This procedure was done in triplicates. Their oil sorption and retention capacities were
calculated according to Eqs. (1) and (2).

𝑚𝑓15 − 𝑚𝑓
Oil Sorption Capacity = (1)
𝑚𝑓

𝑚𝑓24 − 𝑚𝑓
Oil Retention Capacity = (2)
𝑚𝑓15 − 𝑚𝑓

where mf is the mass of sample before sorption (g),

mf15 is the massof oil wetted sample at 15 min dripping (g),
mf24 is the mass of oilwetted sample at 24 h dripping (g).

Human hair was used as positive control in the experiment.

Risk assessment

Possible risks during the experiment is the use of motor oil.

According to the Environment Management Bureau (2015), used motor oil is a
hazardous waste with code I101 in Category D. The proper disposal of this waste is by
combustion or burning of the hazardous wastes directly as an alternative fuel or using it
as an ingredient or input material to produce fuel for industrial processes. The motor oil
used in the experiment was used as fuel for an oil lamp in the researcher’s household.

Data List

Table 1. Sorbent Oil Sorption Capacity and Oil Retention Capacity

Sorbent Oil Sorption (g/g) Retention Capacity (%)

Cocosnucifera husks 7.07 0.91

9.46 0.86
9.01 0.88
Zea mays cobs 1.23 0.84
1.49 0.85
1.23 0.87
Positive Control 6.40 0.71
Human Hair 10.25 0.71
11.64 0.76
Data Analysis
The research had multiple independent variables (Different Sorbents) and one
dependent variable (Oil Sorption Capacity or Retention Capacity). Thus, the data was
analyzed with One-Way ANOVA at 0.05 significance value using SPSS 20.

Figure 1. Mean of Oil Sorption Capacity Figure 2 Mean of Oil Retention Capacity

Results and Discussion

Oil sorption capacity and oil retention capacity are two important aspects of a material
used as the sorbent to recover spilled oils. As seen on Table 1 and Figure 1, Cocos
nucifera has higher oil sorption capacity compared to Zea mays cob. Human hair had
higher oil absorption compared to the two biosorbents. In Table 1 and Figure 2, it can
be observed that Cocos nucifera had highest oil retention capacity, followed by Zea
mays cob, then Human hair.

Based on the results, it can be concluded that Cocos nucifera can be comparable to the
commonly used oil sorbent hair. There is a no significant difference between Cocos
nucifera and Human hair with regards to oil sorption. However, Zea mays cob shown
low level of oil sorption. This may be possible because the cobs were sliced crosswise
with minimal exposure of the pith. Over-all, Cocos nucifera had the highest oil retention
capacity and comparable oil sorption to human hair making it a possible sorbent for oil
spill clean-up.

Further research is suggested especially on the Oil-Water Selectivity of the proposed

biosorbents because it can be possible that these biosorbents may also absorb water in
a simulated or real oil spill setting.
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 Oil Sorption and Retention Capacity of Zea mays cob and
Cocos nucifera husks as Potential Biosorbents for Oil Spill Clean-ups
Research Data
Oil Sorption and Retention Capacity
mf mf15 mf24 S R
mass of sample mass of mass of 𝑚𝑓15 − 𝑚𝑓 𝑚𝑓24 − 𝑚𝑓

trial
before oil sample after sample after 𝑚𝑓 𝑚𝑓15 − 𝑚𝑓
sorption 15mins 24hours
dripping dripping
Cocosnucifera husks 1 1.23 9.93 9.19 7.07 0.91
2 1.12 11.71 10.19 9.46 0.86
3 1.14 11.14 10.21 9.01 0.88
Zea mays cobs 1 1.22 2.72 2.48 1.23 0.84
2 1.25 3.11 2.84 1.49 0.85
3 1.23 2.74 2.54 1.23 0.87
Positive Control 1 1.86 7.82 5.86 6.40 0.71
Human Hair 2 1.17 13.16 9.67 10.25 0.71
3 1.16 14.66 11.37 11.64 0.76

Pictures

Oven at 70°C Plant Fibers on a tray during Oven Drying

Sorbents during Oil Sorption Time Sorbents at 15 minute dripping time