In this study, we propose to synthesize oil-water separating agents from natural plants (tung oil) that are abundant in Vietnam and environmentally friendly. The use of these products with a simple separation process enables the effective separation of the contaminating oil in water. | VNU Journal of Science: Natural Sciences and Technology, Vol. 32, No. 4 (2016) 205-211 Modified Tung Oil and Its Application in Oil-Contaminated Water Treatment Le Van Dung1, Nguyen Thi Bich Viet2, Le Thị Thanh Mai3, Nguyen Minh Ngoc3,* 1 Department of Chemistry, Vietnam Military Medical University, 160 Phung Hung, Ha Dong, Hanoi 2 Faculty of Chemistry, Hanoi National University of Education, 136 Xuan Thuy,Cau Giay, Hanoi 3 Faculty of Chemistry, VNU University of Science, Hanoi, 19 Le Thanh Tong, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi Received 01 August 2016 Revised 30 August 2016; Accepted 01 September 2016 Abstract: The wastewater issued from industrial firms, particularly in the fields of electronics and mechanics is often contaminated with oil/grease (used in maintenance of components, equipment and materials,.) and the oil amounts is also exceeding the permitted threshold for industrial wastewater. The treatment of such wastewater is often complex with several steps and needs specialized polymers that are imported, normally derived from petroleum and expensive. In this study, we propose to synthesize oil-water separating agents from natural plants (tung oil) that are abundant in Vietnam and environmentally friendly. The use of these products with a simple separation process enables the effective separation of the contaminating oil in water. Keywords: maleated tung oil, maleic anhydride, oil-water separating agent, environmental treatment 1. Introduction∗ thereby potentially affect the quality of groundwater [2, 3]. The treatment of oily wastewater is complicated because oil can be in multiple states in water, especially when oil is dispersed in water to form stable emulsion systems. To deal with this kind of oily water, it has often to use specialized demulsifiers (or emulsion breakers) based on high cost polyelectrolytes (usually synthetic polymers containing charged groups) derived from petroleum [4]. Vietnam has a rich flora with abundant resources of vegetable oil .
