The photo is sourced from naked-science.ru
This sorbing agent features low density (8 grams per litre) and superhydrophobic properties. Thanks to such a combination, it is capable to absorb oil and petroleum products (gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil) without sucking water and remaining on the water surface for a long time. Another advantage of this sorbing agent is a higher capacity vs its commercial analogues (up to 61 grams of oil per 1 gram of sorbent), and the possibility of its re-application achieved due to treatment with organic solvents providing for practically 100% restoring the sorption properties.
“Our team started working in early 2019, then in two years we applied for a patent, and now we have finally received it. We patented the sorbent agent itself and its making method”, FRC cites Sergey Baksakov, one of the authors of the study, senior research fellow of the nanomaterials’ spectroscopy lab.
Managing oil and petroleum products spills is one of the most popular areas for the studies by Russian scientists. Previously, specialists from Troitsk Innovative and Thermonuclear Studies Institute within the Rosatom State Corporation proposed to use a mobile laser for that purpose capable of “burning out” the oil spill on the water surface from the distance of 300 metres. The new method was tested in the fall of 2023 in the Okhotsk Sea in the proximity of the Sakhalin Island.
