Performance of Enhanced Natural Kapok/Coconut Coir Composite Absorbent for Oil Spill Recovery

Catastrophic oil spills emphasized the importance of fast response to ensure marine environmental sustainability, as well as cost-effective technology for oil spill cleaning and recovery. However, the existing method for oil spill response causes damage to the ecosystem and does not recover the oil. The use of organic oil sorbent tends to absorb both water and oil and leads to the sinking of sorbent materials. The organic sorbent material is in loose particles and makes it difficult to collect after spreading on the water. The use of natural organic sorbent raised attention due to its low cost, high effectiveness, and attractive properties such as high recovery, reusability, and biodegradability. Thus, this research focuses on evaluating the best composition of a coconut coir and kapok composite absorbent material that can clean, collect, and recycle oil spills. The observation showed the composition of coconut coir and kapok with a ratio of 0:4 in the water absorbance test, oil absorbance test, and reusability test. However, the addition of coconut coir improved the water, oil absorbance, and reusability properties of lubricant oil. This is due to the hydrophilic properties of coconut coir. The combination of coconut coir and kapok shows better absorbance properties for lubricant oil and has improved the buoyancy of composite sorbent materials in real oil spill cleaning conditions.