Contact Angle Measurement for Agricultural Materials

The study is focused on identifying the best possible contact angle measurement
method in order to determine contact angle for agricultural materials. Sugarcane
(Saccarhum Officinarum) bagasse, kapok (Ceiba Pentandra) and rice husk (Oryzae
Sativa) are selected to be tested for their contact angle and then compared against the
established synthetic oil sorbent, polypropylene. The objectives of this study are to
measure the contact angles for agricultural materials with different types of oil
(crude oil, engine oil, used engine oil) using the best identified method. The results
are then compared against known value of contact angle for polypropylene. The best
material for oil sorbents can be identified by measuring contact angle; the lower the
contact angle of with liquid, the better the material is at absorption. This will be an
indicator of the absorption ability of these agricultural materials.
Experimental works are conducted in order to achieve the set objectives. The
materials are prepared accordingly before experiments are conducted to measure
their contact angles. The equipment used is interfacial tensiometer which measures
the contact angle based on a picture taken of the liquid drop on a solid surface. The
results show that kapok has the lowest contact angles for all types of oil and it is
even better than polypropylene at absorption. The results for sugarcane bagasse and
rice husks vary in term of which is better at absorption. However, generally the
contact angle values for agricultural materials are lower than that of polypropylene.
This means that the agricultural materials are better at absorption than synthetic
materials. Thus, agricultural materials are proven to be a promising alternative for
the synthetic sorbent materials currently being use to absorb oil during oil spill
contamination in the sea.