It’s said that oil and water don’t mix -- but all too often they do, like in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, a high-tech chemical sponge has been developed that soaks up oil and other pollutants, separating them from water.
Marketed by ABSMaterials as Osorb, this organically modified silica attracts small organic toxins into its matrix, swelling up to eight times its initial size -- but repels water. It can be cleaned for re-use up to 100 times, and generates no solid waste....
The U.S. Department of Energy carried out field tests and declared Osorb highly effective, removing more than 99 percent of oil and grease from water, and over 90 percent of poisonous volatile organic compounds....
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