Acetylation of Kapok Fibres as an Oil Absorbent for Oil Spill Mitigation

Oil spills are significant environmental events that can harm marine life and human health globally. Booms, skimmers, dispersants and burning have drawbacks such as instability in strong currents and high costs, and can themselves cause environmental damage. Bioremediation using oil-degrading bacteria has been widely used but faces the risk of the bacteria being washed away under strong winds and currents, thus lowering their effectiveness. To enhance oil degradation effectiveness, immobilisation is commonly used to attach bacteria onto carriers which thereby act as a shield for the bacteria under harsh conditions. In this study, kapok fibre was used as an oil sorbent and carrier for bacterial immobilisation of Acinetobacter venetianus RAG-1. Kapok fibres were chosen due to their hollow lumen and waxy layer, which can be altered through acetylation to increase their hydrophobicity for potentially improved oil absorption and bacterial immobilisation. The highest degree of substitution achieved was 2.06 ± 0.05 using acetic anhydride with 0.2