Coconut shell based activated carbon-iron oxide magnetic nanocomposite for fast and efficient removal of oil spills

An efficient magnetic adsorbent nanocomposite material is prepared by simple chemical methods using coconut shell based activated carbon and iron oxide nanoparticles. The composite material shows good oil retention capacity with fast kinetics and can be recovered along with the adsorbed oil by using an external magnet. The adsorbent material can be reused after recovering either by heat treatment or by solvent extraction. Hence, the magnetic nanocomposite is shown to be an efficient and recyclable potential candidate for removal of oil spills by magnetic separation. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.