Cleaning oil spills could be as
easy as scraping frosting off a
cake, thanks to a nanoparticle
coating developed by Philip Brown and
Bharat Bhushan, engineers at the Ohio
State University.
Traditional chemicals that disperse oil
spills can harm marine life more than
the oil itself. Instead, environmentalists
might one day use specially coated
nets that separate oil from water. The
coating, announced in March, covers a
stainless steel mesh and works by first
adding silica nanoparticles to create
a bumpy, liquid-repelling surface.
Next comes a polymer layer that acts
as a binder, followed by a layer of
surfactant, a molecule with two key
parts: one that loves water and another
that hates oil. The surfactant’s different
response to the two liquids allows the
coated mesh to separate them. When
Brown and Bhushan tested the mesh,
water slid through while oil remained
trapped on top.