Low molecular weight gels: potential in remediation of crude oil spillage and recovery

Abstract

A molecular gelator which has strong gelation ability for different crude oils (light to heavy crudes), and a wide range of refinery products is reported for the first time for its potential application in oil spillage/recovery.

Novel Class of Isoxazole-Based Gelators for the Separation of Bisphenol A from Water and Cleanup of Oil Spills

“…Notably, for all of these gels derived from castor oil, both G ′ and G ″ are almost independent of the measured range of frequency of oscillation at a constant strain. The dependence of the mechanical strength of the gel on the alkyl chain length is illustrated . The variation of the mechanical strength of the gel with the hydrocarbon chain can be illustrated by considering its tangent of the phase angle value (tan δ), which is the ratio of ( G ′) over ( G ″).…”

“…The dependence of the mechanical strength of the gel on the alkyl chain length is illustrated. 39 The variation of the mechanical strength of the gel with the hydrocarbon chain can be illustrated by considering its tangent of the phase angle value (tan δ), 40 which is the ratio of (G′) over (G″). In the case of an isoxazole-based gel derived from castor oil with C16 hydrocarbon chain length, the value of tan δ is much lower than for C10 (Gb) and for C8 (Ga) (Table S2, Supporting Information).…”

Rapid Room‐Temperature Gelation of Crude Oils by a Wetted Powder Gelator

“…Gelators of this category are faced with at least two major challenges. One involves high solubility of gelators in environmentally benign solvents (for example, ethanol and ethyl acetate) that are thousands of times less toxic than crude oil: except for our recently reported highly soluble gelators,, all hitherto developed gelators necessitate the use of toxic or hot carrier solvents or a large amount of carrier solvents –. The other concerns logistical and technical deployment of volatile and flammable carrier solvents especially on large scale.…”

Beyond Covalent Crosslinks: Applications of Supramolecular Gels

“…A dipeptide-based gelator by Raju et al highlighted this application well, with the phase-selective gelation solely of crude oils with varying gravities and refinery products in mixtures with water. Notably, this system was able to absorb up to 166 times its own weight in hydrocarbons [139]. Similarly, an alkyl bicarbamate supramolecular gel by Wang et al (Figure 15) showed rapid (within 15 min) selective removal and the retention of oils from oil-water mixtures [140].…”