Magnetic Nanosponges Are Better at Water Clean-Up

Jan-23-14 Researches have developed a new carbon nanotube sponge that is three times more efficient at absorbing water contaminants than previous methods.

The nanosponges are an improvement on the sponges created in 2012, which were made by adding boron to carbon, and are instead made with the addition of sulfur and iron. The sulfur increased the size of the nanosponge and also caused defects to form on the surface, resulting in a greater porosity. In turn, the increase in porosity made the nanosponge more buoyant and more sponge-like, and allowed for the addition of iron to the material. This addition of iron enables the spill teams to control the nanosponges and then remove them from the water using magnets.

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