Organogelator-Cellulose Composite for Practical and Eco-Friendly Marine Oil-Spill Recovery

Marine oil spills pose serious threats to the ecosystem and economy. There is much interest in developing sorbents that can tackle such spills. We have developed a novel sorbent by impregnating cellulose pulp with a sugar-derived oleogelator, 1,2:5,6-di-O-cyclohexylidene-mannitol. The gelator molecules mask the surface-exposed hydroxyl groups of cellulose fibrils by engaging them in H-bonding and expose their hydrophobic parts making the fibers temporarily hydrophobic (water contact angle 1108). This sorbent absorbs oil effectively, selectively and instantly from oil-water mixtures due to its hydrophobicity. Then the gelator molecules get released uniformly in the oil and later self-assemble to fibers, as evident from SEM analysis, congealing the oil within the matrix. This hierarchical entrapment of the oil by non-covalent polymeric fibers within a covalent polymer matrix makes the gel very strong (230-fold increase in the yield stress) and rigid, making it suitable for practical use.