Demonstrating Aqueous-Phase Low-Molecular-Weight-Gel Wicking of Oil for the Remediation of Oil Spilled into Surface Water

Abstract

Oils spilled into surface water require effective and timely treatment. In this paper, we report on a low-molecular-weight gelator that can form gels in organic and aqueous phases. The aqueous gel was observed to absorb oils, which is proposed as a new class of materials for remediating oil spilled into surface water. The gels and the low-molecular-weight gelator have both fundamental and applied significance. Fundamentally, identifying the mechanisms that govern the formation of these gels and their resultant mechanical properties is of interest. Subsequently, these fundamental insights aid in the optimization of these gels for addressing spilled oil. First, we briefly compare the organic and aqueous gels qualitatively before focusing on the aqueous gel. Second, we demonstrate the ability of the aqueous gel to wick oils through experiments in a Hele-Shaw cell and compare our results to the Washburn equation for porous media. The Washburn equation is not entirely adequate in describing our results due to the change in volume of the porous media during the wicking process. Finally, we investigate mechanisms proposed to govern the formation of low-molecular-weight gels in the literature through rheological shear measurements during gel formation. Our experiments suggest that the proposed mechanisms are applicable to our aqueous gels, growing as anisotropic crystal networks with fractal dimensions between one and two dimensions from temporally sporadic nucleation sites.

Acquiring preferred mode of aggregation through positional antagonism for saponification triggered gelation

“…Developing new types of metallogels and tuning them have been attracting considerable attention since the last two decades owing to their fascinating structural aspects and significant molecular interactions. 1 Also, these have become useful in various disciplines of contemporary research and applications by means of significant catalysts, 2 light harvesting materials, 3,4 sensors, 5,6 conductors, 7 magnetic and nano soft-materials, 8 carbon dots actuators, 9 quantum dots, 10 biomedical devices, 11 and therapeutic agents. 12 Their syntheses and properties pertaining to sophisticated supramolecular interactions may be significantly tuned employing several external stimuli such as sonication, photochemical, pH, temperature, redox stimulators, or other additives on suitable molecules called gelators.…”