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A large number of stable oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions are generated by the petroleum industry each year, resulting in a series of operational and environmental challenges. In this study, a RH-NH2 demulsifier was prepared for the separation of O/W emulsions by grafting ethylenediamine onto natural rice husk. RH-NH2 was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). When the dosage of RH-NH2 was 50 mg/L, the light transmittance (WT) and corresponding oil removal efficiency (WR) of the separated water were 90.2 ± 1.8% and 94.82 ± 0.95%, respectively, in the emulsion-0.2 (containing 0.2% crude oil). When the dosage was 200 mg/L, the WT and WR values of the emulsion-1 (with 1% crude oil) were 91.9 ± 0.9% and 99.14 ± 0.1%, respectively. In addition, dynamic interfacial tension (IFT), wettability, zeta potential, interfacial activity and adsorption capability of RH-NH2 at the interface were also investigated. The results showed that the IFT values of asphaltene and RH-NH2 (200 mg/L) was 22.58 mN/m and 16.42 mN/m, respectively. The zeta potential of the O/W emulsion was − 37 ± 1.8 mV while that of RH-NH2 was 20.8 ± 1.0 mV, which facilitated the electrostatic neutralization and reduced the electrostatic repulsion between oil droplets. A possible demulsification mechanism was proposed, which indicated that RH-NH2 was amphiphilic, with high interfacial activity and stronger capability to reduce IFT. It migrated rapidly to the oil–water interface and disrupted the interfacial film via synergistic effect of the π-π/n-π interaction, leading to demulsification. RH-NH2 has a potential industrial application due to its low-cost and high demulsification efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • RHC-0.5 was prepared via a simple one-step hydrothermal route. • RHC-0.5 has high demulsification efficiency in water-in-crude oil. • The demulsification efficiency of RHC-0.5 is similar to commonly commercial demulsifiers. • RHC-0.5 is low-cost and environmentally-friendly and easily prepared. Demulsification of crude oil emulsions still face many difficulties in the petroleum industry. Therefore, it is very important to develop innovative materials to achieve the effective separation of oil–water emulsions. In this work, an environmentally friendly RHC-0.5 demulsifier was prepared via a simple one-step hydrothermal route using rice husk (RH) as raw materials. It was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer and thermogravimetric analysis. The possible breaking mechanism was analyzed by particle size analysis, Zeta potential, interfacial activity, interfacial tension, self-assemble of interfacial film and microscopic analysis. The influence of some important factors such as dosage, temperature, standing time and salinity on the demulsifying efficiency (DP) was explored through bottle tests. The optimal DP of 95.01 % could be obtain with 300 mg/L of RHC-0.5 at 70 °C for 10 min. Meanwhile, RHC-0.5 had a good salt tolerance even at the salinity of 40000 mg /L. In addition, its DP was compared with that of commercial demulsifiers such as SP169, CH-66 and AR-32. This work not only can promote the efficient utilization of biological waste (RH), but also provides an insight into the exploration of new demulsifying materials with excellent performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]