Evaluation of New Green Kapok and Cogon Fibre Composite Sorbent Material for Oil Spill Cleaning and Recovery

Oil spill causes significant and long-term impacts on the ecology and socio-economic activities. Compared to other oil spill cleaning methods, sorption by sorbents is suggested as the most effective mechanism due to low operational cost. Kapok is already widely used as sorbent material due to its renewable, abundant, environment-friendly, low cost, high sorption, hydrophobicity, and reusability. However, kapok as a sorbent material has challenges in hydrophobicity water absorption, cleanliness of reuse kapok, and structural integrity of kapok. Cogon fibre also has the potential to be used as a low-cost sorbent for the sorption of various types of oil. Although researchers have found kapok fibre to be sorbent, no studies have been found that use a combination of both kapok and cogon fibres. On the laboratory scale, the fibres are studied through scanning electron microscope, contact angle, sorption capacity, retention profile, and pH slurry, and we found that a combination ratio of 10:90 provides the best performance of oil sorbent. The presence of lumen microstructures exhibited by kapok fibre and cogon fibre can promote buoyancy, oil sorption, and oil storage capabilities of the sorbent.