Dispersants: Polymers
A polymer is a chemical compounds that consists of one repeating sequence and has a high molecular weight. Each polymer has characteristics that make them ideal for different purposes. Some are believed to be ideal for the use of dispersing oils. These polymers are under the classification of dendritic polymers, or polymers with many branches. There are two different kinds of dendritic polymers that have been studied for this purpose, hyper-branched and dendrimers.
The mechanism through which these polymers disperse oil is theorized to be partially like that of a surfactant, but there is also thought to be a partitioning effect caused by the polymers. This partitioning effect occurs when the polymers encapsulate oil particles, incorporating it into the structure of the polymer using intermolecular forces (an interaction between particles wherein they remain separate molecules). A study performed by Nicholas Geitner et al. at Clemson University in 2012 explores the relationships between these polymers and their ability to form complexes with hydrocarbons. Through this research, it was determined that these compounds could be reasonable substitutes for the current popular oil dispersants.
The mechanism through which these polymers disperse oil is theorized to be partially like that of a surfactant, but there is also thought to be a partitioning effect caused by the polymers. This partitioning effect occurs when the polymers encapsulate oil particles, incorporating it into the structure of the polymer using intermolecular forces (an interaction between particles wherein they remain separate molecules). A study performed by Nicholas Geitner et al. at Clemson University in 2012 explores the relationships between these polymers and their ability to form complexes with hydrocarbons. Through this research, it was determined that these compounds could be reasonable substitutes for the current popular oil dispersants.
References
Geitner, N. K., Bhattacharya, P., Steele, M., Chen, R., Ladner, D. a., & Ke, P. C. (2012). Understanding dendritic polymer–hydrocarbon interactions for oil
dispersion. RSC Advances, 2(25), 9371. http://doi.org/10.1039/c2ra21602g
dispersion. RSC Advances, 2(25), 9371. http://doi.org/10.1039/c2ra21602g