A new reusable oil-absorbing sponge is set to transform the clean-up of oil spill sites.
The simple foam sponge has been developed by Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois and has proved effective in absorbing spilled oil in testing.
But it goes a step further than current clean-up materials by enabling the captured oil to be squeezed out and the sponge used again, potentially hundreds of times.
Most commercial products currently available, called sorbents, are only useful for a single use, acting like a paper towel to mop up a kitchen mess and then thrown away, reports New Scientist. The discarded sorbents and oil are then incinerated.
The oil sponge is made up of a polyurethane-coated foam and topped with silane molecules that attract oil. Researchers found in laboratory tests that with the precise amount of silane the foam could repeatedly soak up and release oil.
But to really measure its effectiveness, they had to recreate a large oil spill.
At the National Oil Spill Response Research and Renewable Energy test centre in New Jersey last December they created a number of square sponge pads measuring about 6sqm.
These were dragged behind a pipe spewing oil into a special testing tank. The sponges were then put through a wringer to remove the oil.
“Our treated foams did way better than either the untreated foam that we brought or the commercial sorbent,” says the material's inventor and Argonne scientist Seth Darling.
It's now hoped the sponge can be developed to tackle oil spills that occur close to shores, where the clean-up process is very difficult.
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