Novel ferrocene chalcone organic gels for oil spill treatment and recovery

Abstract

Herein, we developed three novel ferrocene-based chalcone gelators Y1-3. The three gelators were synthesized by introducing long alkyl chains of different lengths into the chalcone structure. The gelation behavior of the gelators in the solvent, especially in the oil phase, was studied, and the synthesized gelators were proved to have good gelation properties in the oil phase. Through the self-assembly behavior of gelators Y1-3 in the oil phase and the study of thermal stability, the effects of different alkyl long chains on the gelation ability of gelators in the oil phase were investigated, indicating that alkyl groups the longer the chain, the more stable the gel formed. The gelation mechanism of gelators Y1-3 was deduced by Gaussian calculation. Finally, the application research on oil identification and oil spill recovery was done on the gelators, and it was found that the gel factors can identify the adulteration of fuel oil and effectively recover the oil spill. This intelligent oil spill recovery material may stimulate more related research in the future.