A sorbitol‐based phase‐selective organogelator for crude oil spills treatment

Abstract

ABSTRACTAn efficient sorbitol‐based phase‐selective organogelator has been synthesized by an one‐step reaction between sorbitol and benzaldehyde with high yields up to 90%. The organogelator could gelate a wide range of oils with minimum gelation concentration ranging from 0.04 to 0.10 g/mL within 17 min. Besides, the self‐assembly mode of the organogelator in the oil phase was presented. The organogelator could self‐assemble in the oil phase through the hydrogen bonding and the π–π stacking interactions to form three‐dimensional networks. The organogelator showed better gelation properties when treated crude oil than other oils. Namely, a lower gelation concentration and a shorter gelling time were observed, while higher thermal stability and mechanical strength of the final crude oil gel were obtained. More importantly, the organogelator could be directly applied in a powder form to selectively gelate crude oil from oil–water mixtures within 10 min at ambient temperature without heating or adding carrier solvents. Inexpensive, simple‐synthesis, high‐yield and relatively simple operation performances of the organogelators indicate their potential and promising applications to remove oil spills in real life, especially for marine crude oil spills. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47052.