Karakteristik Kimia Serat Buah Kapuk sebagai Bahan Penyerap Minyak

Abstract

Kapok fiber (Ceiba pentandra) are naturally hydrophobic and oleophilic fiber that would be usefull for oil adsorbent. This research examined of chemical composition, oil sorption capacity and its selectivity of natural and ethanolbenzene extracted fibers. Kapok fibers were taken from Madura-East Java, Pati- Central Java, and Bogor-West Java. Based on the chemical composition, kapok fibers contained holoselulosa 83.04-84.16%, alfa-selulosa 37.43-40.26%, lignin klason 13.24-16.25%, etanol-benzena solubility 1.02-1.17%, cold water solubility 0.63-0.77%, hot water solubility 4.14-4.62% and NaOH 1% solubility 19.49- 26.47%. Adsorption capacity of natural kapok fiber was in range of 30.70 to 63.20 g/g fiber, while extracted kapok fibers exhibited oil adsorption of 26.62 to 50.74 g/g fibers. Dissolution of oleophilic extractives substances seemed that was responsible for lower oil adsorption capacity. Naturally, kapok fiber has a very high selectivity to adsorb oil than that of water, therefore kapok fibers could be promoted as an oil adsorbent material with a high selectivity in the oil-water system.