Salvinia as A Green Solution for Efficient Oil Sorption

Abstract

The present study is focused on using Salvinia, an invasive aquatic plant, as a bio-sorbent for cleaning up oil spills, thus solving the environmental and economic problems. While the effectiveness of sorption has long been recognized in oil spill cleanups, challenges persist, hence making innovation in sorbent materials. Salvinia is considered unique for this due to its superhydrophobic and super oleophilic characteristics. The present study characterizes Salvinia chemically and physically using FTIR, SEM, and bulk density analysis; evaluates its efficiency in removing oil from pure and mixed oil-water solutions.