Fabrication of Green Superhydrophobic/Superoleophilic Wood Flour for Efficient Oil Separation from Water

The removal of oil from waste water is gaining increasing attention. In this study, a novel synthesis method of green superhydrophobic/superoleophilic wood flour is proposed using the deposition of nano-zinc oxide (nZnO) aggregated on the fiber surface and the subsequent hydrophobic modification of octadecanoic acid. The as-prepared wood flour displayed great superhydrophobicity and synchronous superoleophilicity properties with the water contact angle (WCA) of 156 degrees and oil contact angle (OCA) of 0 degrees for diesel oil. Furthermore, the as-prepared wood flour possessed an excellent stability, probably due to the strong adhesion of nZnO, which aggregates to the fiber surface of wood flour with the action of glutinous polystyrene. The maximum adsorption capacity of as-prepared wood flour was 20.81 g/g for engine oil, which showed that the as-prepared wood flour is a potential candidate as an efficient oil adsorbent in the field of water-oil separation. Moreover, it has good chemical steadiness and environmental durability. Taken together, all the information acquired from this research could be valuable in evaluating the potential of as-prepared wood flour as a competitive and sustainable oil-water separation material.