QUT researchers have come up with a new, safe way to clean up oil spills using compounds equally useful as common household cleaning products.
QUT researchers have come up with a new, safe way to clean up oil spills using compounds equally useful as common household cleaning products.
There have been more than 700 oil spills worldwide in the past 20 years, polluting oceans and coastlines as well as endangering marine ecology and other wildlife.
Associate Professor Jingsan Xu said the team from QUT’s Science and Engineering Faculty, had invented a nontoxic, low-cost, easily processed foam for oil removal.
He said when an oil spill occurred, the foam could be sprayed onto its surface to absorb the waste very quickly. The same principal could be applied to spills in the home of cooking or other oils. The foam is then easily scraped away for safe disposal.
Read more at: Queensland University of Technology
QUT's Associate Professor Jingsan Xu, has invented a nontoxic foam which can clean up oil spills. (Photo Credit: Anthony Weate/QUT Marketing & Communication)
