Comparative Evaluation of the Structural and Adsorptive Properties of Modified and Unmodified Cucurbita moschata Seed Husk for Crude Oil Spill Clean-up

This study investigates the structural and adsorption properties of modified and unmodified Cucurbita moschata seed husk with a view to evaluating its potential as a low-cost bio-sorbent for crude oil clean-up. The raw seed husk was subjected to chemical modification through acetylation, aiming to enhance its surface characteristics and functional group availability. Comprehensive characterizations were conducted using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and surface area analysis to determine changes in morphology and functional groups. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to assess the sorption efficiency of both modified and unmodified Cucurbita moschata seed husk in removing crude oil from aqueous solutions under varying conditions of contact time, catalyst usage. Adsorption kinetics and isotherm models, including first-order, pseudo-second-order, Intra diffusion, Freundlich, Langmuir and Temkin were applied to interpret the experimental data. The results revealed that acetylation significantly improved the surface roughness, porosity and active binding sites of the sample, leading to enhanced oil uptake capacity. The modified Cucurbita moschata seed husk exhibited superior adsorption efficiency, with equilibrium data fitting well to the Freundlich isotherm and Pseudo-second order kinetic model, indicating multilayer adsorption on a heterogeneous surface. These findings suggest that modified Cucurbita moschata seed husk, holds promising potential as a sustainable, ecofriendly, and effective adsorbent for treating oil spill clean-up in our environment