Grafting of Butyl Acrylate on to Banana Fibers for Improved Oil Absorption

Nowadays, unconventional natural fibers are receiving a great interest because of their environmental friendliness vis-à-vis those fibers that are obtained using raw materials from the nonrenewable resources. Among the many applications such as composites, handicrafts, decorative materials, etc., one major application is in combating oil spill. The present paper deals with use of modified natural fiber banana, as oil sorbent. The banana fiber is modified to impart hydrophobicity and oleophilicity to it. The resultant fibers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to confirm the modification. Modified banana fiber showed significant enhancement in oil sorption and thus increased potential for its use as oil spill cleanup material.