By John DeFore

Hundreds of thousands of tons of oil have been spilled into oceans in this decade alone; clean-up, where it is undertaken, is a daunting job. A team of scientists at MIT, though, has an exciting new tool to offer: a superpowered paper towel. A May article in Nature Nanotechnology details their invention, which uses nanowires to make a mat with peculiar qualities and the ability to absorb twenty times its weight in oil.

The mat resembles paper, and is made in a similar fashion, albeit with more high-tech ingredients than wood pulp. The nanowires in this process can be made in larger quantities than many other nanomaterials, making this a relatively inexpensive solution. Cost aside, it’s more efficient than some materials currently used to clean up oil spills: While conventional materials absorb some water along with the oil, MIT’s mat can tell the difference and rejects water entirely.

In a statement about the discovery, team member Francesco Stellacci said, “our material can be left in water a month or two, and when you take it out it’s still dry.” However, any non-water liquids present will be admitted by the mat’s water-repelling coating, allowing the nanowire mesh to absorb them. (This same process may have possibilities for water filtration.)

Happily, MIT reports that the sponge “can be recycled many times for future use” and, even better, “the oil itself can also be recovered.” That’s because the mat’s materials remain stable even at temperatures higher than oil’s boiling point — they can be heated to the point at which oil evaporates and can be condensed again.

Maybe then it can be sold at today’s record prices, and the money used to fund future clean-up efforts.

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