Carbon-nanotube Mesh for Oil Cleanup
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Technology
Ingenuity Lab, whose team specialises in nanotechnology, has reportedly created a product to suck the oil out of water.
The project has received $1.7m from Natural Resources Canada.
Ingenuity Lab says its device acts as a sponge – using a carbon-nanotube mesh – that attracts and then soaks up oil from the water.
Image: Schematic of carbon nanotube made from rolled graphene sheet
Image source: Nanoscience Instruments
Once the oil has been soaked up, the mesh is removed from the water and targeted with ultraviolet light, heat or electricity, which helps to expel the oil.
Impressively, tests have shown the technology can clean up nearly 100 percent of a spill, meaning the oil can then be reused. This is not only environmentally friendly, but also means spills may not be as financially devastating as they once were, as companies may be able to recover some of their resources.
Carlo Montemagno, director of Ingenuity Lab and leader of the project, hopes the technology will be used on ocean vessels, as well as in rivers and streams.
He said: “We were able to demonstrate the effectiveness of the membrane a year ago. Now we are in the process of developing a system for producing it at a large scale.”
With the funding, Montemagno and his team will work on a preproduction pilot system to produce the material at scale. They want to start real-world field-testing in under two years’ time.
Source: Energy Voice
Media
Taxonomy
- Oil & Gas
- Nanotechnology
- Environment
- Oil Spill Treatments
- Nanotechnology
- Nanotubes
- Nanotech Other
1 Comment
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NanoMind IDC congratulates Carlo Montemagno, director of Ingenuity Lab for great research outCome; we look forward to collaborating in scaling up and applications in African too.