A Novel Hazelnut Shell/Magnetite Bio-Nanoadsorbents for Enhanced Oil Removal From Oil-Contaminated Waters

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of using hazelnut shells as a biosorbent for the cleanup of oil and petroleum product spills in water bodies. The effects bioadsorbent, nanoparticle concentrations, oil concentration, temperature (10 − 400 °C), and pH on oil adsorption were investigated to determine the optimal conditions for maximum purification efficiency. The highest oil removal efficiency achieved with the biosorbent was 61.25% at a pH of 7.5. To enhance the sorption capacity of the biosorbents were synthesized by incorporating Fe3O4 superparamagnetic nanoparticles at concentrations of 1%, 3%, 5%, and 10%. Characterization of both the biosorbents was conducted using SEM, TGA, and FTIR analyses to assess the interaction between Fe3O4 nanoparticles and the plant-derived surface of the biosorbent. For an adsorbent such as hazelnut shell + Fe3O4 bio-nanoadsorbent, the pHzpc indicates the point at which the surface of the bio-nanoadsorbent changes from negatively charged to positively charged as the pH of the solution increases or decreases. The zero-charge pH point of the bio-nanoasorbent was determined to be pH = 8 by Boehm titration. The optimal adsorption conditions for the bio-nanosorbent, composed of hazelnut shell and 10% Fe3O4 nanoparticles, were found to be 92.5% oil removal within 12 minutes at a pH of 7.5.