Unravelling structure-property relationship of oil/water/surfactant system with temperature and under shear

Annually, over 100 billion litres of wastewater contaminated with crude oil droplets are generated worldwide. Depending on the wastewater source, such as marine oil spills and steam-based oil extraction processes, they require remediation. Current technologies are ineffective for removing oil droplets. To address this gap, we developed a sponge-based adsorption technology to remove crude oil droplets from wastewater. The nanocomposite sponges can remove the oil droplets from wastewater with over 99% removal efficacy. Knowledge of influencing the interfacial structure and rheological properties with environmental conditions, such as surfactants, temperature, and shear stress, is required to design the sponges with confirming surface properties for oil droplets removal at elevated temperatures and reduce environmental impacts of fracking.