Environmental security

Nanomaterials Can Now Absorb Oil Spills

Researchers at Australia’s Deakin University have developed a material that has the potential to save the earth from future oil-spill disasters, and prevent a repeat of the 2010 Gulf Coast BP catastrophe that caused untold damage to the environment and cost some $40 billion.

Scientists at Deakin’s Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) have spent two years perfecting the material, which absorbs oil like a sponge, and are preparing to trial it in cooperation with industry representatives.

The material is the most exciting development in oil spill cleanup technology in decades, said Alfred Deakin Professor Ying (Ian) Chen, the lead author on a paper that outlines the team’s work.

“Oil spills are a global problem and wreak havoc on our aquatic ecosystems, not to mention cost billions of dollars in damage,” Professor Chen said. “We are so excited to have finally got to this stage after two years of trying to work out how to turn what we knew was a good material into something that could be practically used.”