Sorption of hazardous industrial organic liquids with environmentally friendly functionalized cellulosic sorbents

The performances of five cellulosic polymers with different functional groups (cellulose, cellulose acetate, cellulose phosphate, chitosan, and chitin) as sorbents of seven frequently used hazardous polar organic liquids (acrolein, butanone peroxide, epichlorohydrin, formaldehyde, furfuryl alcohol, propylene oxide, and vinyl acetate) are investigated in this study. Amongst the cellulosic sorbents, cellulose phosphate exhibited enhanced sorption properties (as high as 3.09-7.03 g/g) against all seven polar organic liquids investigated, and chitosan and chitin also demonstrated comparable sorption efficiencies (2.28-7.72 g/g and 2.55-5.86 g/g, respectively) to those of cellulose phosphate. According to our investigation, the enhanced sorption efficiency could be achieved due to low powder density of cellulose phosphate, which is caused by the weak intramolecular interaction amongst the polymer chains. In addition, cellulose phosphate, chitosan, and chitin also showed enhanced absorbed solvent recovery percents (71.4, 60.6, and 61.1%, respectively, in average) compared with that of pristine cellulose (43.8%). With excellent sorption efficiency, enhanced solvent recovery rate, and reusability after drying, these functionalized cellulosic sorbents can be excellent candidates to replace the conventional carbon and vermiculites-based sorbents, especially for liquid polar organic spill sorption.

Automated summary

This study investigates the performance of five different cellulosic polymers as sorbents for seven hazardous polar organic liquids. Among them, cellulose phosphate shows enhanced sorption properties against all seven liquids, while chitosan and chitin also demonstrate comparable efficiency. The enhanced sorption is attributed to the weak intramolecular interaction and low powder density of cellulose phosphate. Additionally, cellulose phosphate, chitosan, and chitin also show improved solvent recovery percentages compared to pristine cellulose.