Oil contamination adsorption by modified spanum moss (modified SM): (a) macroscopic morphology of modified spanum moss, (b) oil-water mixture before adsorption, (c) adsorption processes showing adsorbing material, and (d,e) separation of the material after adsorption. Credit: Science Report (2025). doi:10.1038/s41598-025-96059-7
Hidden within the spanyummus, commonly known as peat moss, is an adsorbent that helps fight oil spills. A study by Chinese researchers presents a new bio-based oil adsorbent derived from spanham moss, which can selectively soak oil.
Research results published in the Scientific Report showed that chemical changes to peat moss had the ability to maintain more than 90% of its initial adsorption capacity over 90% of its 10 cycles of use, resulting in potential oil sponge.
Every year, the oil drilling is incorrect, causing hundreds of tons of oil to spill into the waters, leaking pipelines and sinking large oil transport vessels. Such oil and chemical spills can have devastating effects on aquatic wildlife, habitat poisoning, and the destruction of the food chain. Humans are also immune to the effects of these oil spills, as they can affect the lungs, heart and immune systems.
The increasing urgency to deal with deadly oil spills has led scientists to explore bio-based materials that can effectively separate oil from water. However, current natural bio-based adsorbents derived from fruit skins and cotton often have low volume, low reusability, and their inherent hydrophilicity makes selective adsorption of oils from oil-water mixtures quite difficult.
To design natural materials that could overcome these problems, scientists chose spanum moss as the base material and treated it continuously with hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydroxide.
Hydrophobic and senescent properties of original Spanish moss (AC) and modified Spanish moss (DF). Credit: Science Report (2025). doi:10.1038/s41598-025-96059-7
These chemicals increased the porosity of the moss surface and exposed hydrophilic functional groups that inhale the moss surface. The resulting material was then treated with silane, a popular silicon-based surface modifier, to form a thin polymer layer on the moss surface, introducing oleophilic groups and capturing the hydrophilic groups to the oil.
A closer look at the modified moss using scanning electron microscopy and spectroscopic techniques revealed a rough surface, and the water was grafted in repeated groups to create a contact angle of 157°, which easily stopped the water.
This has improved selectivity to oil. This showed that the modified Spanum moss had an adsorption capacity of 22.756 g/g on motor oil, surpassing many common bio-based adsorbents, with its capacity exceeding the 1.69 to 18.2 g/g range.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of the mechanism of oil-water separation and adsorption. Credit: Science Report (2025). doi:10.1038/s41598-025-96059-7
The researchers also found that chemisorption (the process of adsorption processes of strong chemical bonds between oil molecules and functionalized surfaces) is the major mechanism that contributes to improving adsorption efficiency and oil affinity.
Moss-based oil adsorbents have demonstrated their status as a promising and environmentally friendly tool to combat oil spills, thanks to their excellent adsorption performance and reusability.
Details: Junpeng Ren et al, Sustainable hydrophobic bio-based adsorbents from modified spanum moss for efficient petroleum water separation, Scientific Report (2025). doi:10.1038/s41598-025-96059-7
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