Oil sorption properties of cotton comber noil/recycled polyester blended needle punched nonwoven fabrics- An optimization study

Oil spill pollution is a constant threat to the environment nowadays. The treatment of an oil spill remains a challenge to environmental scientists. Among the various cleanup methods available, the use of sorbents for oil spill cleanups is a popular approach. In this work, an attempt has been made to produce cotton comber noil /recycled polyester needle punched nonwoven fabrics for the oil spill clean-up process. Box–Behnken experimental design is used to optimise the parameters such as cotton comber noil /recycled polyester blend proportion, needle punching density and areal density for maximum oil sorption capacity. At 70:30 cotton comber noil /recycled polyester blend proportion, 64.94 needle punching density and 100 GSM, maximum oil sorption was achieved. The maximum oil sorption achieved in the case of crude oil and vegetable oil is 45.90 g/g and 32.30 g/g respectively. The cotton comber noil/recycled polyester needle punched nonwoven fabric showed a stable water bead morphology with a static contact angle of 133.6. The present work indicates that the cotton comber noil/recycled polyester needle punched nonwoven fabric (70/30) is a potential sustainable product for oil spill removal applications.