Porous amorphous powder form phase-selective organogelator for rapid recovery of leaked aromatics and spilled oils

Abstract

Phase-selective organogelators (PSOGs) have drawn wide attention due to their potential applications in recovery of leaked aromatics and spilled oils. However, powder form PSOGs with fast gelling abilities and broad applicabilities are still limited. Herein, we developed three D-gluconic acetal-based gelators with different alkyl chains, all of which show excellent gel properties for hydrocarbon solvents. The spectroscopic and X-ray results revealed that the gel formation was the synergy of hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking and van der Waals forces. Surprisingly, the powder form gelator A with a cis double bond in the alkyl chain could instantly and selectively gel aromatic hydrocarbons, and also rapidly solidify crude oils with widely ranging viscosities from seawater at room temperature within minutes. Further research revealed that A powder exhibited porous amorphous morphology because the cis double bonds broke the crystalline chain-chain interdigitation between the assemblies. Therefore, the fast dispersion and recombination of fibers under the action of oil molecules lead to the fast room temperature gel process. Overall, a non-toxic and low-cost powder form PSOG with rapid room temperature phase selective gelation ability for a wide range of oils makes it promising for the emergency treatment of oil spill and aromatics leakage.