Amine functional cellulose derived from wastepaper toward oily wastewater treatment and its demulsification mechanism

Removing oil from oily wastewater is critically required prior to industrial production and environmental protection. Recycling of solid waste has received extensive attention from academia because of its economic and environmental benefits to the industry. In this work, an amine-functionalized recycling wastepaper demulsifier (AWP) was prepared and used to treat oily wastewater. The morphology, composition, wettability, and interfacial property were investigated. The results showed that AWP had appropriate amphipathy and excellent interfacial activity. Accordingly, it could adsorb and displace asphaltene at the interface, thus destroying or softening the interfacial film. AWP exhibited an excellent demulsification performance, the light transmittance of separated water and the total degrease rate exceeded 89.6% and 99.16%, respectively. Importantly, AWP could be used under the acidic, alkaline or high salt conditions. This work not only realizes the recycling of waste wastepaper but also provides a new AWP demulsifier for the treatment of oily wastewater. (c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Removing oil from oily wastewater is crucial for industrial production and environmental protection. This study developed an amine-functionalized recycling wastepaper demulsifier (AWP) for treating oily wastewater, which exhibited excellent demulsification performance and could be used under different conditions. It not only achieved the recycling of waste wastepaper but also provided a new method for treating oily wastewater.