Chemical dispersants
are used extensively for oil spill remediation.
Most of these dispersants are composed of a mixture of surfactants
and organic solvents, which raises concerns about aquatic toxicity
and environmental impact. In this study, the toxicity and biodegradability
of an oil spill dispersant composed of the surface-active ionic liquid
1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium lauroyl sarcosinate [Bmim][Lausar] and
Tween-80 were investigated. In addition, important environmental factors
including salinity, temperature, and wave-mixing energy were optimized
to obtain maximum dispersion effectiveness. The acute toxicity against
zebrafish (
Danio rerio
) showed that
the developed dispersant was practically non-toxic with a median lethal
dose of more than 100 mg L
–1
after 96 h. The dispersant
also demonstrated outstanding biodegradability of 66% after 28 days.
A model was developed using a response surface methodology that efficiently
(
R
2
= 0.992) related the salinity, temperature,
and wave-mixing energy of seawater to dispersion effectiveness. The
system was then optimized, and a high dispersion effectiveness of
89.70% was obtained with an experimental error of less than 2%. Our
findings suggest that the surface-active ionic liquid and Tween-80
mixture could be a viable alternative to toxic chemical dispersants
for oil spill remediation.