Development and investigations of kapok fiber based needle punched nonwoven as eco-friendly oil sorbent

In this work an attempt has been made to produce kapok/polypropylene (80/20) needle punched nonwoven for oil spill clean-up process. The difficulties involved in structuring kapok fiber through needle punching process and hence to develop a nonwoven are discussed. As an outcome, hydrophobic-oleophilic kapok fiber nonwoven has been produced and characterized for its oil sorption and retention. The maximum oil sorption was found to be 40.80 g/g and 29.0 g/g for high density oil (HD) and diesel oil respectively which is higher than the commercial polypropylene based oil sorbent pad. An interesting observation found was its retention value ranging from 0.88 to 1.00 which makes it an alternative for synthetic sorbents. The burning test of the oil sorbed samples ended up with only less amount of ash residue confirming its suitability and eco-friendly nature.