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

Crude oil and petroleum-based fuel\nspills represent a persistent\nthreat to marine ecosystems. Economical and sustainable sorbents are\nrequired to mitigate environmental hazards arising from this pollution.\nThis study employs a low-density fluorinated porous polysulfide polymer\nmade by the direct reaction of sulfur (S), used cooking oil(s) (UCO)\nsuch as used cooking mustard oil (UCO-M), used cooking soybean oil\n(UCO-S), and used cooking rice bran oil (UCO-R), 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorostyrene\n(PFS), and table salt (NaCl) to fill this demand. The polymer has\nan attraction for hydrocarbons such as crude oil and petroleum-based\nfuel, allowing it to quickly remove them from water because of the\nhydrophobicity of sulfur and cooking oil. The fluorinated polysulfide\ncan absorb 2.5 mL g<sup>–1</sup> engine oil and form a water–oil\nmixture. The captured oil has been recovered by simple mechanical\ncompression and reused again to clean up oil spills under environmentally\nrelevant conditions, up to multiple cycles (4 cycles with >85%\nadsorption\ncapacity). As sulfur is a byproduct of petroleum, polysulfide stands\nout for being entirely produced from recycled waste, contributing\nwaste to wealth initiatives and a circular economy.