A review of bio-based materials for oil spill treatment.

Being cost-effective, synthetic materials were initially used abundantly for the removal of oil. Gradually, however, awareness of the use of dispersants like Corexit, which makes water resources more toxic than oil, has changed the scenario for the treatment of spilled oil. The removal of spilled oil from water resources is still a very topical issue.

Carboxymethyl Chitosan and Its Hydrophobically Modified Derivative as pH-Switchable Emulsifiers.

The emulsification properties of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMChi) and hydrophobically modified carboxymethyl chitosan (h-CMChi) were studied as a function of pH and dodecane/water ratio. The pH was varied between 6-10, and the oil/water ratio between 0.1-2.

One-pot synthesis of trifunctional chitosan-EDTA-β-cyclodextrin polymer for simultaneous removal of metals and organic micropollutants.

The global contamination of water resources with inorganic and organic micropollutants, such as metals and pharmaceuticals, poses a critical threat to the environment and human health. Herein, we report on a bio-derived chitosan-EDTA-β-cyclodextrin (CS-ED-CD) trifunctional adsorbent fabricated via a facile and green one-pot synthesis method using EDTA as a cross-linker, for the adsorption of toxic metals and organic micropollutants from wastewater. In this system, chitosan chain is considered as the backbone, and the immobilized cyclodextrin cavities capture the organic compounds via host-guest inclusion complexation, while EDTA-groups complex metals.

The pH sensitive properties of carboxymethyl chitosan nanoparticles cross-linked with calcium ions.

In environmental applications the applied materials are required to be non-toxic and biodegradable. Carboxymethyl chitosan nanoparticles cross-linked with Ca ions (CMC-Ca) fulfill these requirements, and they are also renewable. These nanoparticles were applied to oil-spill treatment in our previous study and here we focused on enhancing their properties.