Evaluation of chitosan aggregates as pickering emulsifier for the remediation of marine sediments

To restore the marine environments contaminated by oil spills to an acceptable state, sediments are commonly washed with seawater, and surfactants added into the aqueous solution to increase the oil recovery. However, the resulting mixture may release toxic break-down products, and the surfactants may themselves pose an environmental risk to marine species. In this work we investigated for the first time the addition of chitosan nanoparticles to the washing solution as an alternative and greener method to ensure the cleanup of contaminated sediments. Results showed 65.1 ± 6.4% of average removal from sand and seafloor sediments artificially contaminated at 4 wt % with crude oils displaying different specific gravity. These results were comparable to those obtained with commercial surfactant mixtures containing non-ionic and anionic surfactant (67.8 ± 5.2% removal). Moreover it was possible to recover the crude oil from the washing solution thanks to the reversible demulsification induced by the addition of CO2. [Display omitted] •Chitosan nanoaggregates promotes the emulsification of petroleum in water.•Marine sediments, artificially contaminated with petroleum, were efficiently cleaned up.•Addition of CO2 triggered a post-treatment demulsification and the easy recovery of crude oil.•The washing solution may be re-utilized for successive application.