Sorbent system based on acetylated microfibrillated cellulose for remediation of oil aquatic environments

The growth of oil exploration and transport in marine environments brings concern over potential environmentaldisasters caused by oil spills. Thus, various materials are being developed and studied in order to minimizeenvironmental impacts caused by these oil spills. Among these materials, the use of sorbents has appearedas a great potential technique for the treatment of effluents, by separating and collecting oil in theaqueous medium. This work describes the development of a sorbent system based on acetylated microfibrillatedcellulose. Initially, cellulose fibers were modified by an acetylation reaction and thereafter, by a mechanicalprocess using a wheel mill grinding. To produce the sorbent system, fibers were coated by threedifferent types of envelopes to prevent leakage during the sorption experiment. Main results indicate a higheroil sorption by sorbents with higher oil viscosity and higher grammage of the envelope. Acetylated microfibrillatedcellulose showed low water adsorption and high selectivity to oil and greater oil sorption values thancommercially sorbent currently used, based on polypropylene fibers.Keywords: sorbents, microfibrillated cellulose, acetylation