Newly developed supergelators could help clean oil spills more efficiently and avoid the secondary pollution associated with some alternative cleanup methods.

Current techniques to clean oil spills—which include the use of toxic, detergent-like compounds called dispersants and burning of the oil slick—generally result in incomplete removal of spilled material and in some instances can cause further damage to the environment. Oil molecules that remain in the water over long periods can spread over a larger area as they are carried by wind and waves. Burning can be used only on fresh oil slicks at least 3 millimeters in thickness—and this process causes secondary environmental pollution.

In a bid to improve the technology utilized by cleanup crews to manage and contain large spills, researchers from the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), in Singapore, have invented a smart oil-scavenging material, or supergelators. The supergelators are derived from highly soluble small organic molecules that instantly self-assemble into nanofibers to form a 3D net that traps the oil molecules so that they can be removed easily from the surface of the water. (Click here to watch a video of the supergelators in action.)

3D nanofiber net formed by the supergelators to trap oil molecules. Image credit: © Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.

“The most interesting and useful characteristic of our molecules is their ability to stack themselves on top of each other," says IBN Team Leader and Principal Research Scientist Dr. Huaqiang Zeng. "These stacked columns allow our researchers to create and test different molecular constructions, while finding the best structure that will yield the desired properties.”

IBN’s supergelators have been tested on various types of weathered and unweathered crude oil in seawater and have been found to be effective in solidifying all of them, the researchers say. The supergelators take only minutes to solidify the oil at room temperature, and tests show they are not toxic to human cells or zebrafish embryos and larvae.

The Institute is looking for industrial partners to further develop the technology for commercial use.