One of the major problems facing our sea’s is the leaking of oil when a ship sinks or as happened to BP in the gulf, a major sea drilling platform burns down. The results of these sorts of accidents can be a major environmental catastrophe resulting in deaths of millions of sea life as well as damage to fragile sea coral.
In the Nature Communications journal, scientists have advised that they have been successful in creating a re-usable material which is capable of absorbing 33 times it’s weight for a variety of chemicals, including possibly oil.
The way it works is that nano sheets of a material called boron nitride which can then be used to soak up chemicals such as oil, dyes and chemical solvents. When placed on the polluted area, the sheets instantly soak up the pollution and after approximately two minutes, the oil has been absorbed into the sheets.
It is hoped that the technology can be further developed into a solution that will be viable for use in the future.
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