Flinders University Scientists Develop New Environmental Polymer Which Quickly and Effectively Soaks up Crude Oil

ADELAIDE, Australia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–On the eve of the anniversary of the US Deepwater Horizon disaster,
polluted beaches, oily water, dead birds and marine life destruction
caused by crude oil spills could be a thing of the past thanks to
pioneering research led by Flinders University.

In an exciting, sustainable answer to clean up oil spill destruction,
scientists have developed a new polymer – itself made from by-products –
which quickly and effectively soaks up crude oil.

In an environmental win-win, the polymer made from waste cooking oil and
sulphur (a by-product of the petroleum industry) absorbs crude oil and
diesel spills.

Better still, because this highly buoyant polymer acts like a sponge to
suck spills from sea water, the polymer can be squeezed to recover the
oil and then reused.

Award-winning scientist Dr Justin Chalker, Senior Lecturer in Synthetic
Chemistry at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, is
leading an international research team responsible for the discovery.

“This is an entirely new and environmentally beneficial application for
polymers made from sulphur,” says Dr Chalker. “This application can
consume excess waste sulfur that is stockpiled around the globe and may
help mitigate the perennial problem of oil spills in aquatic
environments.”

Oil spills are a major global issue, with the International Tanker
Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) reporting about 7000 tonnes of crude
oil spilling from tankers into oceans in 2017 alone.

The international team of researchers point to the effects of recent
large-scale spillage catastrophes as a potent reason driving their
research – in particular, the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon
offshore drilling rig on 20 April 2010 and subsequent release of
approximately 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

A recent large oil spill off Borneo has prompted Indonesian authorities
to declare a State of Emergency.

Hundreds of smaller spills of diesel fuel and other petroleum products
affect developing countries in Africa, Asia and South America.

The new material is cost effective and sustainable, helping developing
countries where smaller, localised spills threaten groundwater, drinking
water and important food staples such as fish.

“This is a new class of oil sorbents that is low-cost, scalable, and
enables the efficient removal and recovery of oil from water,” says Dr
Chalker.

The research is published in the new paper, Sustainable
Polysulfides for Oil Spill Remediation: Repurposing Industrial Waste for
Environmental Benefit, published in Advanced Sustainable
Systems (Wiley) DOI: 10.1002/adsu.201800024 by Flinders and other
researchers – Justin Chalker, Max Worthington, Cameron Shearer, Louisa
Esdaile, Jonathan Campbell, Christopher Gibson, Stephanie Legg, Yanting
Yin, Nicholas Lundquist, Jason Gascooke, Inês Albuquerque (Instituto de
Medicina Molecular, Lisbon), Joseph Shapter (Flinders and University of
Queensland), Gunther Andersson, David Lewis and Gonçalo Bernardes
(Cambridge University and IMM, Portugal).

Justin Chalker video interview and still photographs: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dpkoc7b2x7ksigy/AADz57AB6dM3tD0ozOwlQSmQa?dl=0

Animation: https://youtu.be/nP4tAcTmOPI

Contacts

Flinders University
Dr Justin Chalker
Tel: +61 8 8201
2268
Mob: +61 449 570 644
Research Leader and Senior
Lecturer in Synthetic Chemistry, Centre for NanoScale Science and
Technology
[email protected]
Web:
www.Chalkerlab.com
Skype:
ChalkerChem
or
Flinders media
Karen Ashford +61 427398713