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Sustainable Polysulfides for Oil Spill Remediation: Repurposing Industrial Waste for Environmental Benefit
Author(s) -
Worthington Max J. H.,
Shearer Cameron J.,
Esdaile Louisa J.,
Campbell Jonathan A.,
Gibson Christopher T.,
Legg Stephanie K.,
Yin Yanting,
Lundquist Nicholas A.,
Gascooke Jason R.,
Albuquerque Inês S.,
Shapter Joseph G.,
Andersson Gunther G.,
Lewis David A.,
Bernardes Gonçalo J. L.,
Chalker Justin M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced sustainable systems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.499
H-Index - 24
ISSN - 2366-7486
DOI - 10.1002/adsu.201800024
Subject(s) - environmental remediation , polysulfide , environmental science , waste management , pollution , sorbent , diesel fuel , sulfur , fuel oil , environmental pollution , incineration , petroleum , chemistry , environmental protection , contamination , organic chemistry , engineering , adsorption , ecology , electrode , electrolyte , biology
Crude oil and hydrocarbon fuel spills are a perennial threat to aquatic environments. Inexpensive and sustainable sorbents are needed to mitigate the ecological harm of this pollution. To address this need, this study features a low‐density polysulfide polymer that is prepared by the direct reaction of sulfur and used cooking oils. Because both sulfur and cooking oils are hydrophobic, the polymer has an affinity for hydrocarbons such as crude oil and diesel fuel and can rapidly remove them from seawater. Through simple mechanical compression, the oil can be recovered and the polymer can be reused in oil spill remediation. The polysulfide is unique because it is prepared entirely from repurposed waste: sulfur is a by‐product of the petroleum industry and used cooking oil can be used as a comonomer. In this way, sulfur waste from the oil industry is used to make an effective sorbent for combatting pollution from that same sector.