Chemical herders are surfactants applied to the water surface surrounding an oil slick. By reducing water surface tension and creating interfacial spreading pressure, herders drive thin oil films into thicker slicks that can be more readily burned or mechanically recovered. This approach is especially valuable for remote spills where physical recovery methods are impractical.
Bio-Derived Phytol Chemical Herders from Los Alamos National Laboratory introduces a new family of surfactants built from two renewable components: (1) phytol, a long-chain alcohol and major component of chlorophyll, used as the hydrophobic tail; and (2) sugar alcohols, used as the polar head group. These compounds have been demonstrated as effective chemical herders and shown to compete with commercially available/approved herders such as ThickSlick 6535 and Siltech OP-40. The synthesis is described as operationally simple and high-yielding, supporting practical scale-up and manufacturing transfer.
Value Proposition
This bio-based chemical herder from Los Alamos National Laboratory rapidly compacts oil slicks to enable effective in-situ burning or recovery, delivering high performance while minimizing the environmental persistence and bioaccumulation concerns of conventional petroleum-derived products.
