Oil spills threaten the aquatic ecosystem and are a critical global concern due to their adverse social, economic, and environmental impact. This research thoroughly examined the viability of waste chicken feathers as low-cost biosorbents for oil spill remediation in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The developed biosorbents also provide a sustainable waste management option for agro-waste. In this research, waste chicken feathers were processed into oil sorbent pillows and water sorption, oil sorption capacity, reusability, and oil recovery percentage of the chicken feather pillow sorbent were determined. These sample properties were also compared with two reference sorbent materials, polypropylene pad a commercial synthetic sorbent, and chicken feather fibre mat a natural sorbent obtained from Imperial College London, UK.
The oil sorption capacities of the chicken feather pillow, chicken feather fibre mat and polypropylene pad for engine oil were 8.8g/g, 12.7g/g and 13.0g/g, respectively. The result of vegetable oil in the same order was 8.0g/g, 11.2g/g and 12.5g/g. The polypropylene pads and chicken feather fibre mat recorded the highest amounts of oil sorption for engine and vegetable oil. All sorbents were reusable, and the percentage of oil recovery for all three sorbents was above 60%. Further trial tests were performed at four oil spill locations: a diesel oil site, palm oil, weathered crude oil and a fresh crude oil site. The results strongly implied that waste chicken feather is a good sorbent and could be a practical solution to the problem of oil spills for the oil and gas, shipping, manufacturing, and chemical industries, who can maximise the economic gain in the reduction of oil spill management costs to ensure a sustainable environment. in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Further work assessed the commercialisation and barriers to developing a circular economy for chicken feather pillows.