Smart Sponge for Environmental Remediation

Oil spill cleanup is an expensive and complicated process that often harms marine life and further damages the environment. Currently used solutions include burning the oil, using chemical dispersants to breakdown oil into very small droplets, skimming oil floating on top of water, and/or absorbing it with expensive, unrecyclable sorbents. Burning increases carbon emissions and dispersants are harmful for marine wildlife. Skimmers don’t work in rough waters or with thin layers of oil. Sorbents are not only expensive but generate a huge amount of physical waste.