A device (1) for cleaning a liquid (3) contaminated with oil, comprising a filling (7) made of a material that absorbs the oil (2), which filling is located inside a container (4) and is arranged between an inlet and an outlet (5, 6) of the container (4). According to the invention, the absorption property and handling of the filling (7) is increased by virtue of the fact that the filling is formed by a package-type tangle of keratin structures (8) that are randomly arranged and stochastically distributed in all three dimensions, which in the operating state of the device (1), comprise a closed container edge (9) between the inlet and the outlet (5, 6), and rest thereon in a liquid-tight manner.

A device (1) for cleaning a fluid (3) contaminated with oil, comprising a filling (7) made of a material that absorbs the oil (2), which filling is located inside a container (4) and is arranged between an inlet and an outlet (5, 6) of the container (4). According to the invention, the absorption property and handling of the filling (7) is increased by virtue of the fact that the filling is formed by a package-type tangle of keratin structures (8) that are randomly arranged and stochastically distributed in all three dimensions, which in the operating state of the device (1), comprise a closed container edge (9) between the inlet and the outlet (5, 6), and rest thereon in a liquid-tight manner.

A method for enhancing sorption performance of a sorbent material includes the step of increasing a surface area of the sorbent material for adsorption of a fluid at an interface between the fluid and the sorbent material by arranging one or more apertures to be disposed on the sorbent material, wherein each of the one or more apertures is further arranged to define an interior space for absorption of the fluid.

Methods of using modified keratin to remove trace metals and/or napthenic acids from a waste water stream are described. The waste water stream may be mature or fine fluid tailings from oil sands operations, and the methods may include the removal of trace metals, naphthenic acids with simultaneous consolidation of the tailings. The keratin may be modified to unfold the keratin, disrupt disulphide bonding, add functional groups, and/or maintain or stabilize the unfolded configuration.