Science breakthrough to combat oil spills

Deakin University scientists have reported that a newly manufactured material, which can clean up oil spills by literally absorbing the oil like a sponge, is now ready to be trialled by industry.

The major breakthrough material, which received support from the Australian Research Council, is being labelled by the research team as the “most exciting advancement in oil spill clean-up technology in decades”.

It is anticipated the technology could be used as a way to combat environmental disasters such as the 2010 Gulf Coast BP oil spill that cost a reported $40 billion.

“Oil spills are a global problem and wreak havoc on our aquatic ecosystems, not to mention cost billions of dollars in damage,” said Alfred Deakin Professor Ying (Ian) Chen.

“Everyone remembers the Gulf Coast disaster, but here in Australia they are a regular problem, and not just in our waters. Oil spills from trucks and other vehicles can close freeways for an entire day, again amounting to large economic losses.”

Chen said current methods of cleaning up oil spills are inefficient and unsophisticated, taking too long, causing ongoing and expensive damage.

The researchers spent two years refining the material into something that could be practically used in the laboratory at Deakin’s Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM).

“In 2013 we developed the first stage of the material, but it was simply a powder,” said Chen.

“This powder had absorption capabilities, but you cannot simply throw powder onto oil — you need to be able to bind that powder into a sponge so that we can soak the oil up, and also separate it from water.”

IFM scientist Dr Weiwei Lei said turning the powder into a sponge was a big challenge.

“We have finally done it by developing a new production technique,” Dr Lei said.

“The groundbreaking material is called a boron nitride nanosheet, which is made up of flakes that are just several nanometres (one billionth of a metre) in thickness with tiny holes which can increase its surface area per gram to effectively the size of 5.5 tennis courts.”

The research team, which included scientists from Drexel University, in Philadelphia, and Missouri University of Science and Technology, started with boron nitride powder known as ‘white graphite’ and broke it into atomically thin sheets that were used to make a sponge.

“The pores in the nanosheets provide the surface area to absorb oils and organic solvents up to 33 times its own weight,” Dr Lei said.

The researchers said boron nitride nanosheets did not burn, could withstand flame and could be used in flexible and transparent electrical and heat insulation, as well as many other applications.

The scientists said they are now ready to have their ‘sponge’ trialled by industry.

The nanotechnology team at IFM has been working on boron nitride nanomaterials for two decades and is an internationally recognised leader in boron nitride nanotubes and nanosheets.