The University of Alabama at Birmingham's chemistry department has developed a new method for cleaning up various contaminants in water, including oil spills.
The UAB Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is offering licensing for the technology, which consists of a converted polymer that absorbs and biodegrades oil, which the university said leaves no need for extra cleanup steps. The technology was developed in the Department of Chemistry by Eugenia Kharlampieva and Benjamin Yancey.
The current method for cleaning up large oil spills includes the use of biological agents to break down the oil, disbursement of the oil, sequester the oil or solidify the oil using a polymer. Existing technologies have a negative environmental impact and a limited capacity to remove oil, according to UAB. The new invention uses a chemical compound to make the oil particles porous and then absorb and degrade the oil. With further research and development, the university claims, hybrid biodegradable systems can be a novel approach for the cleanup of oil spills and other types of contamination in the sea and fresh water.
UAB’s researchers are also reportedly modifying the technology so that sunlight is not needed and the polymer will work in all sea depths.
