Amphiphilic hemicellulose based-biosurfactants for the efficient hydrocarbons separation from oily sludge

This study presents an improved sustainable approach to produce high-performance hemicellulose-based biosurfactants for environmentally friendly oily sludge remediation and oil components recovery. The amphipathic hemicellulose derivatives were prepared by hydrothermal extraction from renewable bamboo resources followed by rapid homogeneous esterification with alkenyl succinic anhydrides (C12–C18). The chemical structures of the prepared amphipathic hemicellulose derivatives were analyzed by FT-IR and NMR. The amphipathic hemicellulose derivatives with different hydrophobic chains were used to improve the separation and recovery of oil components from oily sludge in the thermal washing process. The hemicellulose modified with octadecenylsuccinic anhydride (HC-ODSA) exhibited the best oil recovery rate of 79.9%. The results of the interfacial activity, foaming, emulsification, and solubilization tests confirmed that the carbon chain length in the introduced hydrophobic groups exerted a substantial influence on the surface-active characteristics of the prepared amphipathic hemicellulose derivatives. Moreover, the results of desorption kinetics revealed that the amphiphilic hemicellulose molecules can reduce the interfacial tension between oil and water by adsorption at the interface and the petroleum hydrocarbons follow the pseudo-second-order desorption kinetic mode.