MIT creates new oil-repelling material

User rating: 4.8 / 5 after 24 vote(s)

A steel mesh coated with a polymer containing a low concentration of a synthesized molecule called fluoroPOSS can repel water (dyed blue) but attracts the flammable fuel hexadecane (dyed red) allowing it to be used to separate the two substances. Pho ...
A steel mesh coated with a polymer containing a low concentration of a synthesized molecule called fluoroPOSS can repel water (dyed blue) but attracts the flammable fuel hexadecane (dyed red), allowing it to be used to separate the two substances. Photo / Anish Tuteja and Wonjae Choi, courtesy Science

MIT engineers have designed the first simple process for manufacturing materials that strongly repel oils. The material, which can be applied as a flexible surface coating, could have applications in aviation, space travel and hazardous waste cleanup.


Full story »
All News summaries from Physics news
All News summaries for December 06, 2007

Electron microscopy enters the picometer scale

2 minutes ago | User rating: not rated yet
Jülich scientists have succeeded in precisely measuring atomic spacings down to a few picometres using new methods in ultrahigh-resolution electron microscopy. This makes it possible to find out decisive parameters ...

Revolutionary materials reflect ancient forms

47 minutes ago | User rating: not rated yet
(PhysOrg.com) -- Although order is pleasing to the eye, it can quickly become boring. In Islamic architecture therefore, decoration often follows a strict yet aperiodic pattern. Similar structures also form ...

Shielding for ambitious neutron experiment

6 hours ago | User rating: not rated yet
In science fiction stories it is either the inexhaustible energy source of the future or a superweapon of galactic magnitude: antimaterial. In fact, antimaterial can neither be found on Earth nor in space, is extremely complex ...

New Membrane Model May Unlock Secrets of Early-Stage Alzheimer's

Jul 23, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and three collaborating institutions are using a new laboratory model of the membrane surrounding neurons in the brain to study how a protein ...

Sandia to Demonstrate Hyperspectral Confocal Fluorescence Microscope

Jul 23, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Sandia National Laboratories will demonstrate a new hyperspectral confocal fluorescence microscope Friday, Aug. 8 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. MDT in Bldg. 897 on Kirtland Air Force Base. This patent-protected and patent-pending technology ...
Goto Archive PhysOrg Forum Goto Archive Video Goto Archive Editorials Goto Archive Free Magazines Goto Archive Newsletter

News Archive