New towels could help battle oil spills

LONDON, May 31 (UPI) -- Catastrophic oil spills may soon be cleaned up using super-absorbent towels made from nanowires and impervious to water, U.S. and Japanese researchers say.

The international research team, which also included researchers from Singapore, said it was able to create towels which can successfully separate chemicals when dealing with events such as a major oil spill, The Times of London said Saturday.

The scientists wrote in a published paper that their towels can remain dry despite being placed underwater for an entire month, yet can easily absorb contaminants like oil.

"Given the global scale of severe water pollution arising from oil spills and industrial organic pollutants, this study may prove particularly useful in the design of recyclable absorbents with significant environmental impact," the research team said.

"Our results suggest an innovative material that should find practical applications in the removal of organics, particularly in the field of oil spill cleanup."

The head of the research team, Dr. Francesco Stellacci, told the Times that during the last decade, more than 200,000 tons of oil have found their way into the sea.