Sprayable Polyolefin Sorbents Enabled by Bio-Solvents for Large-Scale Oil and Chemical Spill Recovery

Abstract

Marine oil spills and discharges of organic pollutants present significant challenges environmentally and economically, highlighting an urgent need for efficient, scalable, and sustainable remediation solutions. Traditional recovery technologies, such as physical sorbents and mechanical collection systems, are often constrained by suboptimal efficiency, intensive labor requirements, and limited flexibility for large-scale or remote applications. In this work, we report a spray-deployable sorbent fabricated by dissolving polyolefin elastomer (POE) in a bio-based solvent system containing α-pinene, D-limonene, and p-cymene. When sprayed, the rapid evaporation of solvents promotes the in situ creation of a cohesive POE film that efficiently adsorbs and retains hydrocarbons from contaminated surfaces. The optimized sorbent composition, referred to as Bio-SP3, demonstrates a maximum oil uptake of 37.3 g g−1 and enables removal of up to 60 mL of very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) in simulated marine spill setups. This material maintains outstanding mechanical resilience, functionality in cold conditions, and environmental safety. Additionally, the sorbent exhibits elevated removal performance for a range of volatile and semi-volatile organic substances, such as toluene, xylene, octane, decane, and hexadecane. Ecotoxicity testing indicates negligible phytotoxicity from residual solvents. This study advances a sustainable and operationally feasible method to address large-scale oil spill remediation, combining rapid field application and renewable materials. The results suggest meaningful progress toward strengthening marine pollution response capabilities through the deployment of innovative functional materials and green chemistry methodologies.