Natural and Cross-Linked Chitosan Spheres as Adsorbents for Diesel Oil Removal

Natural and cross-linked chitosan spheres were used as adsorbents for oil diesel removal. Natural chitosan was cross-linked with glutaraldehyde and epichlorohydrin. The chitosan spheres were soaked in diesel oil at different concentrations using a batch adsorption system. These experiments were carried out to measure the adsorption capacity of the spheres and the percentage of oil removed from the synthetic solutions. The equilibrium data were well described by the Langmuir and Langmuir-Freundlich models, which indicates that after the chemical modification, the maximum adsorption capacity increased significantly. This increase in adsorption capacity could be explained by modifications of surface characteristics (porosity and roughness) or the formation of new bonds after the cross-linking reactions. Our study results show that bioadsorbents based on chitosan is a promising material for diesel oil removal from organic solutions, and thus can be useful in bioremediation.