Gelation turns the liquid oil phase into a solid one, which can be simply scooped out. (Source: Indian Institute of Technology)Deployment of skimmers or booms to contain and clean up oil spilled at sea often fails as the oil film quickly spreads out in large areas. Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science in Kerala, India, turned to material rather than mechanical means to improve the cleanup process.

A novel sorbent was devised by impregnating cellulose pulp with a sugar-derived oleogelator, 1,2:5,6-di-O-cyclohexylidene-mannitol. The gelator molecules are dissolved in the oily phase and then form a 3-D fiber network through hydrogen bonding. The oil becomes trapped in this fibrillar network to form a rigid gel.

The combination of absorption and gelatin processes tightly binds the oil to a porous matrix, after which solid particles are scooped out of the water. Even full with the oil, the granules remain at the surface. Squeezing or distillation of the congealed granules releases the recovered oil.