A group of Greek scientists in Italy have developed a new porous material from polyurethane that can be used to soak up oil spills from the seas.
Researchers Athanassia Athanassiou and Despina Fragouli are part of the team at the Italian Institute ofTechnology (IIT), which published its results in the Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics.
The low-cost polyurethane “sponge” is capable of separating water from oil in a matter of seconds. The material is highly absorbent, with 1 gram capable of holding 30 grams of oil.
Aside from clearing up oil spills, the researches estimate that the material can be converted to clear up other forms of pollution, such as heavy metals and pesticides.
