A facile strategy adopted to separate petroleum oil dispersed in water using a superoleophilic adsorbent is reported. Normally, superhydrophobic materials are superoleophilic; one such a material was developed using a naturally available betel nut (Areca catechu) husk fiber using copper stearate (CuSt2) dissolved in a toluene solution. The copper stearate used in this study was prepared using a wet chemical method. The physical characteristics and surface topography of the fibers with and without low surface energy CuSt2 were explored using FTIR, XRD, and SEM with EDX. The water contact angle of the fiber after surface modification was measured using water contact angle goniometer as 157.1°. Because of its high water repellency, the superhydrophobic betel nut husk (SHBNH) obviously exhibits superoleophilic nature. Such unparalleled properties of the surface-modified fiber were practically tested against the oil removal from an artificially prepared oil–water mixture obtained by mixing varying amounts of Two-stroke engine oil, popularly called 2T oil, with distilled water. On suspending 0.5 g of SHBNH fiber in a water–oil mixture, oil was absorbed by the SHBNH, leaving pure water as an oil-free liquid. All these quantitative analyses were spectrophotometrically evaluated employing a UV–Vis spectrophotometer. As the colored constituents present in the 2T-oil show a distinct peak in the visible region (513 nm), but they do not show any characteristic peak corresponding to the λmax = 513 nm, confirming the 100 % removal of SHBNH fiber; such constituents can be used as a better adsorbent for the removal of oil from water in a real-time applications in future.
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