Magnetic Hydrophobic Cellulose Nanocomposites for Efficient Removal of Oil Spills and Organic Solvents

Oil/chemical spill accidents and oily wastewater discharge from industry have been significant global environmental threats and have attracted a great deal of attention. Oil contaminants are commonly toxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic, and hazardous to human health and aquatic organisms. Therefore, the rapid adsorption of oil from water by an efficient adsorber has become a challenging issue. This paper reports oil superadsorbent hydrophobic (cellulose maleate derivatives (CMD)/Fe3O4@SiO2) with cheap and accessible materials based on cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), whose hydrophobicity can be attributed to the cross-linker of divinylbenzene (DVB), which is attached to it after the modification of cellulose by maleic anhydride. Additionally, to improve the recovery of the adsorbent from the environment, the substrate was magnetized using iron nanoparticles. Easy synthesis and ultrafast adsorption time (3 s), high adsorption capacity for oil and organic solvents (200–253 mg/g), and maintaining an adsorption efficiency of more than 80% in 8 consecutive cycles make it a stable, amazing, and efficient adsorbent.