Efficacy of La3+ entrapped chitosan bio‐polymeric matrix for the recovery of oil from oil‐in‐water emulsion

On the basis of the present study, the details of the recovery of cutting oil from oil‐in‐water emulsion using the modified forms of biopolymer chitosan viz., chitosan beads (CB), carboxylated chitosan beads (CCB), and lanthanum incorporated carboxylated chitosan beads (La‐CCB). Various oil sorption experiments were conducted using an extractive gravimetric method by optimizing various parameters such as contact time, pH, sorbent dosage, and initial oil concentration for maximum sorption. It was found that the oil removal percentage was comparatively less in the case of CB and CCB when compared with La‐CCB, which showed 85% of oil removal at acidic condition. The obtained adsorption equilibrium data was explained with Freundlich, Langmuir, D–R, and Tempkin isotherms to find the best fit for the sorption process. Thermodynamic parameters such as ΔG⁰, ΔH⁰, and ΔS⁰ were calculated in order to understand the nature of sorption process. The surface morphology and sorption of oil on the beads were confirmed by FTIR, SEM with EDAX, XRD, TGA, and DSC analysis. This work provides a potential platform for the expansion of oil removal technology. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43218.