Used Cooking Oil-Derived Fluorinated Porous Polysulfide as a Sustainable Material for Oil Spill Remediation

Crude oil and petroleum-based fuel spills represent a persistent threat to marine ecosystems. Economical and sustainable sorbents are required to mitigate environmental hazards arising from this pollution. This study employs a low-density fluorinated porous polysulfide polymer made by the direct reaction of sulfur (S), used cooking oil(s) (UCO) such as used cooking mustard oil (UCO-M), used cooking soybean oil (UCO-S), and used cooking rice bran oil (UCO-R), 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorostyrene (PFS), and table salt (NaCl) to fill this demand. The polymer has an attraction for hydrocarbons such as crude oil and petroleum-based fuel, allowing it to quickly remove them from water because of the hydrophobicity of sulfur and cooking oil. The fluorinated polysulfide can absorb 2.5 mL g–1 engine oil and form a water–oil mixture. The captured oil has been recovered by simple mechanical compression and reused again to clean up oil spills under environmentally relevant conditions, up to multiple cycles (4 cycles with >85% adsorption capacity). As sulfur is a byproduct of petroleum, polysulfide stands out for being entirely produced from recycled waste, contributing waste to wealth initiatives and a circular economy.