- It is a chemical compound developed by IISCER to scoop out marine oil spills.
- The gelator molecule is partly hydrophilic and partly hydrophobic.
- The hydrophilic part helps in self-assembling to form gelator fibres, while the hydrophobic part is responsible for its diffusion into oil layer.
- Since outer part of the fibre is hydrophobic, oil tends to gets into spongy network made of fibres.
- Once inside the fibre network, oil loses fluidity and becomes a gel.
- The gel was strong enough to be scooped with a spatula.
What are the advantages?
- Gelator has ability to selectively congeal oil, including crude oil from an oil-water mixture.
- It makes the process of recovering marine oil spills simple, efficient and cost-effective.
- It is in a powder form and can be easily applied over oil-water mixture.
- It does not cause any environmental damage.
- It can be recovered oil from oil-water mixture and can be reused several times.
- But in the case of crude oil, the gelator can’t be recycled.