Modification and characterization of fibers of three sandy willow shrub species

Periploca sepium, Salix psammophila and Tamarix spp. make up an important part of the local vegetation in the sandland of China. This paper described a novel method on modification of the three shrub fibers as oil sorbents. Natural and modified fibers were chemically studied by non-destructive methods, infrared spectroscopy (IR) and cross-polarization nuclear magnetic resonance (CP-MAS ¹³C-NMR). The results show that during the reaction with acetic anhydride under mild conditions, the use of N-bromoscciniamide (NBS) catalyst resulted in a high weight percent gain (WPG). The acetylation of P. sepium fiber gave rise to the highest WPG (20.0%) compared with S. psammophila and Tamarix spp. fiber. IR and CP-MAS ¹³C-NMR analysis elaborates the chemical features of natural and acetylated willow fiber in detail.