Recovery of Fuels Using the Supramolecular Gelation Ability of a Hydroxybenzoic Acid Bisamide Derivative

Abstract

In order to remedy the environmental pollution caused by oil spills, new materials with gelation capacity of organic solvents and fuels have been synthetized during the recent years. Among them, some of the most promising materials contain amide groups, which are often incorporated into the chemical structure of organogelators due to their effectiveness in gelling organic solvents through hydrogen bonds. A bisamide derivative of hydroxybenzoic acid (Bis-HUB1) was designed and synthesized in two steps and is able to congeal organic solvents. Gelation tests, critical gelation concentrations, and gel-sol transition temperatures were discussed in terms of its supramolecular interactions. Intermolecular hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking were studied through variable-temperature FTIR and UV-visible spectroscopy, while the structural characterization was performed via freeze-fracture TEM. Interestingly, Bis-HUB1 showed the ability to gel gasoline and diesel from monophasic and biphasic systems, which implies its potential use as a remediation agent in fuel spills. The results encourage further research.