Turning Peat Moss into a Powerful Natural Solution for Oil Spills

[frankerkanol]

A team of researchers in China has developed a novel oil-absorbing material derived from sphagnum moss, commonly known as peat moss. Their study, published in Scientific Reports, highlights a chemically modified version of the moss that selectively adsorbs oil from water and retains over 90% of its initial adsorption capacity after 10 reuse cycles.

Oil spills, often caused by accidents during drilling, transportation, or pipeline leaks, release hundreds of tons of oil into aquatic environments each year. These spills pose severe threats to marine ecosystems and can also harm human health by affecting the lungs, heart, and immune system.

To address the need for sustainable oil cleanup methods, scientists have been turning to bio-based adsorbents. However, many natural materials—such as those derived from cotton or fruit peels—struggle with limited oil selectivity, low adsorption capacity, and poor durability due to their water-attracting (hydrophilic) surfaces.

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Seeking a more effective alternative, the researchers selected sphagnum moss and treated it with hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydroxide. This process increased its porosity and exposed hydrophilic functional groups. To reverse the moss’s natural water affinity and enhance its oil-attracting (oleophilic) behavior, the surface was coated with silane, a silicon-based compound that grafts a thin, polymeric layer onto the moss.

Microscopic and spectroscopic analysis showed that the surface became rougher and effectively grafted with water-repelling groups, giving it a water contact angle of 157°, allowing water to easily roll off. This transformation significantly boosted the material's oil selectivity.

In performance tests, the modified moss absorbed up to 22.756 grams of motor oil per gram of material—outshining many common bio-adsorbents, which typically absorb between 1.69 and 18.2 grams per gram. The enhanced performance is largely attributed to chemisorption, where strong chemical bonds form between oil molecules and the functionalized moss surface.

Thanks to its high efficiency, selectivity, and reusability, this modified sphagnum moss emerges as a promising and environmentally friendly solution for mitigating the damaging effects of oil spills.