title: A Sugar-Based Gelator for Marine Oil-Spill Recovery.
abstract: Marine oil spills constitute an environmental disaster with severe adverse effects on the economy and ecosystem. Phase-selective organogelators (PSOGs), molecules that can congeal oil selectively from oil-water mixtures, have been proposed to be useful for oil-spill recovery. However, a major drawback lies in the mode of application of the PSOG to an oil spill spread over a large area. The proposed method of using carrier solvents is impractical for various reasons. Direct application of the PSOG as a solid, although it would be ideal, is unknown, presumably owing to poor dispersion of the solid through the oil. We have designed five cheap and easy-to-make glucose-derived PSOGs that disperse in the oil phase uniformly when applied as a fine powder. These gelators were shown to selectively congeal many oils, including crude oil, from oil-water mixtures to form stable gels, which is an essential property for efficient oil-spill recovery. We have demonstrated that these PSOGs can be applied aerially as a solid powder onto a mixture of crude oil and sea water and the congealed oil can then be scooped out. Our innovative mode of application and low cost of the PSOG offers a practical solution to oil-spill recovery.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, KERALA-, 695016, India.
authors.forename: Amol M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Vibhute
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, KERALA-, 695016, India.
authors.forename: Venkatanarayana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Muvvala
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, KERALA-, 695016, India. kms@iisertvm.ac.in.
authors.forename: Kana M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4005-3655
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Sureshan
mesh_terms: D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D005947:Glucose / Q000737:chemistry*; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D009821:Oils / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D009821:Oils; D010578:Petroleum; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D005947:Glucose
keywords: gelators; hydrogen bonding; oil-spill recovery; phase-selective organogelators; self-assembly