Superhydrophobic fibers from cigarette filters for oil spill cleanup

Cigarette butts make up the largest contribution to solid waste worldwide. A promising way to control the environmental impacts of cigarette butts is to convert the filter wastes to desired products. Herein, by immersing cigarette filters sequentially into an aqueous solution of NaOH and an ethanolic solution of hexadecyltrimethoxysilane, the filters became converted into superhydrophobic/superoleophilic fibers, with measured water and kerosene contact angles of 156.9° ± 3.1° and approximately 0°, respectively. Due to this ability to exclude water and absorb kerosene, the so-obtained fibers were used to clean up a staged spill of kerosene on the surface of water. The cleanup efficiency of these fibers was measured to be as high as approximately 96%, and did not decrease after 10 cycles of use. The moisture content in the kerosene collected from the surface of the water was unexpectedly lower than the moisture content in the kerosene before it was poured onto the water surface.