How Far Are We in Combating Marine Oil Spills by Using Phase‐Selective Organogelators?

Abstract

selectively congeal oil from oil-water mixtures have been proposed to be useful for oil spill recovery. From this initial proposal, the area has progressed gradually towards their practical implementation. The advancements and novel concepts in this area are reviewed.

Advances in applied supramolecular technologies

“…The use of organogelators in this application has been reviewed by Sureshan and Vibhute. 143 Another established strategy for the remediation of light oil spills is the addition of elasticity agents, such as Elastol, 144 to the oil. Elastol is a powdered formulation of a long-chain hydrophobic polymer which dissolves in the oil and modifies its mechanical properties through gelatinisation/solidification.…”

Phase-selective cellulose nanofibril-based oil gelling agent for oil spill recovery

“…Marine oil spill accidents caused by oil extraction, transportation, ship collision and illegal discharge of oily sewage have brought serious harm to the marine ecological environment. 1,2 Oil spills are major disasters that affect the human-environmental system, as examples of atmospheric pollution, red tides due to eutrophication of water bodies, and health threats to humans through the food chain. As is known to all, in the Deepwater Horizon oil accident in 2010, about 4.9 million barrels of crude oil were released in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to a huge economic loss and adverse effect on marine ecosystems.…”

Recently Developed Carbohydrate Based Gelators and Their Applications

“…Supramolecular gels have been explored as new materials with applications in ma research fields such as in biomedical research for controlled drug delivery [1][2][3][4], enzym immobilization [5], optical and electronic devices [6][7][8], and in environmental sciences the removal of pollutants [9,10]. Metallogels formed by small molecules and metal io have been studied for their applications as smart materials [11][12][13][14].…”