Home – Home – Jornals – Chemistry for Sustainable Development 2026 number 4

The methods for modifying the surface of mineral raw materials to obtain sorbents for water purification from oil and oil products are considered; a comparative analysis of the methods of material treatment with the modifying substances in the gas and liquid phases is performed; distinctive features are determined, including technological, economic and environmental aspects; the properties of sorbents are described. Evaluation of the methods shows that processing in the gas phase allows obtaining high-quality hydrophobic sorbents, but the technology requires using complex, specialised equipment, which significantly increases the production cost. Liquid-phase modification is relatively easy to implement, and the necessary equipment is available. However, the disadvantages of this method include environmental safety issues associated with the need to dispose of waste solutions. The article presents the authors’ own experimental studies, describes the developed process flow charts for modifying porous granular aluminosilicates, such as expanded perlite and vermiculite, expanded clay, and foam silicate. Results of the studies of the properties of sorbents obtained by modification in the gas/vapour-gas phases of hydrocarbon compounds, and the sorbents modified in an aqueous solution of sodium stearate showed the advantages of gas-phase modified samples in terms of sorption capacity values. In experiments on cleaning the surface of distilled, tap and sea water from diesel fuel with these sorbent samples, the efficiency reached almost 100 %, while liquid-phase modification ensured purification at the level of 98 %. The comparison of the two tested modification methods shows that the choice of the optimal approach is determined by the requirements for sorbent characteristics, operating conditions and features, as well as the cost and availability of resources for production.