Sorbents: Properties, Materials and Applications (Environmental research advances series)

Sorbents are insoluble materials or mixtures of materials used to recover liquids through the mechanism of absorption, or adsorption, or both. Absorbents are materials that pick up and retain liquid distributed throughout its molecular structure causing the solid to swell. The absorbent must be at least 70 percent insoluble in excess fluid. Adsorbents are insoluble materials that are coated by a liquid on its surface, including pores and capillaries, without the solid swelling more than 50 percent in excess liquid. To be useful in combating oil spills, sorbents need to be both oleophilic (oil-attracting) and hydrophobic (water-repellent). Although they may be used as the sole cleanup method in small spills, sorbents are most often used to remove final traces of oil, or in areas that cannot be reached by skimmers. Any oil that is removed from sorbent materials must also be properly disposed of or recycled. This new book gathers the latest research in this field from around the world.