Superabsorbent material as an oil spill response tool

The material obtained by scientists, with a strong increase in the

accident of oil tankers - is not so rare. The spill of oil that goes into the sea from cracks in the walls of tanker tanks is a disaster. But even this is children's games compared to what happened in the Gulf of Mexico several years ago. The ecosystem of the region has still not recovered from the spill of a huge amount of oil as a result of damage to the well drilled by BP. An oil spill is very difficult to eliminate, and in some cases it is almost impossible to do.

But there is still hope. The other day, a joint team of scientists from the University of Drexel and Deakin University announced the creation ofsuperabsorbent material, which is a nanosheet boron nitride. The absorbent is able to absorb oil and organic solvents 33 times its weight. This allows the use of superabsorbent as a tool to eliminate the effects of an oil spill.

Figuratively speaking, boron nitride, properly packaged, absorbs oil like a sponge. The capabilities of the material have already been tested - for two years, scientists tested it in the laboratory. According to the team leader, Professor Ian Chen, this is the most promising development in the field of oil refining for several decades.

“An oil spill is a global problem, it is a disaster for the ecosystem, not to mention the monetary value of the damage. Everyone remembers the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, but the disaster happened not only there, ”says the professor. In particular, this problem is also relevant for Australia, where the movement of water transport is very active, and the water is constantly polluted by oil products.

The study was funded by the Australian Research Council. According to Chen, modern oil spill cleaners are inefficient and rather sophisticated, not to mention the cost.

As for boron nitride, Chen composes nanosheets of material from the flakes of this substance, the size of each is only a few nanometers. Moreover, the surface of the material is very uneven, which allows us to talk about a very large area of ​​the specific surface of the particles of such material. True, creating a sponge from boron nitride powder is not an easy task, but scientists managed to overcome this problem.

“In 2013, we developed the first stage of material production, but it was just a powder. The powder also has good absorption characteristics, but you can’t just throw the powder into oil. After all, it is necessary to collect oil, and this can be done with a sponge, ”the scientist comments. In the end, scientists managed to create a very porous boron nitride airgel, which is ideal for oil spill response. It is interesting that boron nitride is also a refractory material, an excellent heat insulator - so that it can also be used for heat / electrical insulation.