Scientists develop nanofur material to soak up oil

KARLSRUHE, Germany, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A team of researchers in Germany have developed a new water-resistant nanofur material capable of soaking up oil with impressive efficiency. The material was inspired by water ferns.

Many materials with potential as an oil absorbent fail to live up to expectations, often because they absorb as much as water as oil.

In an attempt to solve this problem, researchers at Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Bonn University looked to a unique group of water ferns.

"We already knew that the leaves of these plants repel water, but for the first time now, we have studied their capacity to absorb oil," Claudia Zeiger, a researcher at KIT's Institute of Microstructure Technology, said in a news release.

Researchers began by experimenting with a variety of plant species. A type of water fern called salvinia features small, hairy extensions on the surface of their leaves called trichomes. The leaves reached maximum oil absorption within 30 seconds.

"Oil-absorbing capacity is determined by the shape of the hair ends," Zeiger said.

The eggbeater-shaped trichomes of the species Salvinia molesta proved the most effective at oil absorption.

The plastic nanofur developed by Zeiger and her colleagues mimics the structure and oil-absorbing abilities of the hair ends of Salvinia molesta.

"We study nanostructures and microstructures in nature for potential technical developments," said Hendrik Hölscher, head of the biomimetic surfaces group at KIT.

Researchers described their new nanofur material in the journal Bioinspiration & Biomimetics.