Silk fibres exhibiting biodegradability & superhydrophobicity for recovery of petroleum oils from oily wastewater

Present study reports superhydrophobic-oleophilic, environment-friendly, & biodegradable silk material derived from Bombyx mori silkworm, for practical oil-water separation and oil recovery applications. In this study, raw silk fibers were degummed using water and Na2CO3 (at 100 degrees C), for removal of outer gummy sericin protein layer, which was confirmed using FTIR & FE-SEM analysis. The water & Na2CO3 degummed silk fibers showed superhydrophobicity with water contact angles (WCA) of 153 degrees & 158 degrees, respectively, demonstrating Wenzel & Cassi-Baxter states. Degummed silk fibers showed superoleophilicity (OCA similar to 0 degrees) towards petroleum oils like Petrol, Diesel, & Engine oil. The water & Na2CO3 degummed silk fibers showed oil-water separation efficiencies of 95 % & 87.5 %, respectively. Both degummed silk fibers showed more than 50 % efficiency till 10 separation cycles. Further, raw & degummed silk fibers showed an environmental biocompatibility, by their biodegradation under in-house developed biotic de-compost culture consisting of biodegrading micro-organisms. Their analysis showed that biotic decompost culture rendered biodegradation weight loss of 11 % and 18 %, respectively, in 35 days. Successive results showed that, degummed silk fibers can be effectively utilized for practical oil-water separation, and further, they can be environmentally biodegraded, thereby mitigating their waste generation and disposal problem.