CHEM1105 Lecture Notes - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Corexit, Propylene Glycol
Document Summary
Dispersants are liquid solutions of detergent-like surfactants dissolved or suspended in solvent. The surfactants have two ends: one attracted to oil and the other attracted to water. The water-compatible chemical is called hydrophilic and the oil compatible chemical is called lipophilic. The solvent enables the surfactants to be applied and helps get them through the oil film to the water interface. At the interface the surfactants reduce the surface tension allowing the oil to enter the water as tiny droplets, which are degraded by natural bacteria. One must take note that seawater contains stronger internal attractive forces between the bonds due to the addition of sodium and chloride. Seawater is considered polar while oil is non-polar. As a result, the oil relaxes on the surface of water due to density. If one wants to clean oil from the seawater, one must somehow make oil compatible with water because of soluble ends.
