Aromatic alkoxysilane based hybrid organogels as sorbent for toxic organic compounds, fuels and crude oil

Crude oil, fuels and toxic organic solvent leaks into the natural environment can cause long-term ecological and health problems. The use of hydrophobic polymeric organogels, with a three-dimensional cross-linked network, is a promising material for cleaning of organic liquids from the environment. For this purpose, we synthesized aromatic alkoxysilane based hybrid poly(alkoxysilane) organogels by condensing a cycloaliphatic glycol (UNOXOL™) and aromatic alkoxysilanes as a cross-linking agent. The synthesized organogels were characterized by solid-state 13C and 29Si cross polarization magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (CPMAS NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The use of organogels as sorbent material for various toxic organic solvents, fuels and crude oil was investigated. The oil absorption capacity was found to be 45% for ethanol, 70% for diesel, 133% for acetone, 136% for crude oil, 203% for cyclohexane, 252% for gasoline, 342% for xylene, 366% for methyl tertiary butyl ether, 367% for ethyl benzene, 641% for toluene, 654% for benzene, 747% for tetrahydrofuran and 1120% for dichloromethane for the best sorbent. Synthesized organogels can be used as sorbents for these organic liquids; they have excellent properties, such as high absorption capacity, fast absorption speed, good selectivity and reusability.