Chitosan coating on silk fibroin for oil spill treatment

A new kind of silk fibroin based oil sorbent has been developed by coating chitosan onto silk fibroin. The effect of chitosan coating on oil sorption and oil retention behavior of silk fibroin is studied. The maximum oil sorption capactiy of chitosan coated silk fibroin is 26.80 g/g and 19.46 g/g for engine oil and diesel oil respectively. SEM is used to analyze the surface morphology and FTIR confirms the chemical changes after chitosan treatment. Reusability test results suggest that after 5 cycles, the oil absorbency of chitosan coated silk fibroin is 14.39 g/g and 10.30 g/g against engine oil and diesel oil respectively. A comparison of oil sorption capacity of chitosan coated silk fibroin with other synthetic sorbents is also presented. It is concluded that chitosan coated silk fibroin has the potential to become widely employed sorbent for oil spill removal applications.