title: Low-Cost Phase-Selective Organogelators for Rapid Gelation of Crude Oils at Room Temperature.
abstract: Frequent marine oil spills pose a significant threat to the environment and marine's ecosystem. We have recently reported a highly tunable molecular gelling scaffold, which enables us to identify a few first examples of phase-selective organogelators (PSOGs) that can instantly gel the crude oil of various types with room-temperature operation. In this study, we demonstrate the high robustness and reliability of this modular gelling scaffold in consistently and combinatorially producing high capacity PSOGs. Such a unique feature has allowed us to carry out a systematic study of 48 gelators via a two-step screening process and to discover another powerful carboxybenzyl-based gelator with comparable gelling properties but with a cost lowered by more than 300%, pointing to a good commercial potential for rapid cleanup of oil spills while effectively eliminating environmental pollution caused by the spilled oil.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology , 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, Singapore 138669, Singapore.
authors.forename: Changliang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology , 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, Singapore 138669, Singapore.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Science, Nanyang Technological University , 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology , 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, Singapore 138669, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Science, Nanyang Technological University , 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: Haibin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology , 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, Singapore 138669, Singapore.
authors.forename: Huaqiang
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8246-2000
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeng