Nanotechnology Innovation Enables Recovery and Reuse of Spilled Oil

Interface Sciences Corporation announced that in response to oil spill problems stemming from the current Hurricane Katrina disaster and oil crises, the company is launching its proprietary oil remediation and recovery application.

Interface Sciences treated material absorbs about 40 times it weight in oil, far exceeding existing commercially available remediation materials. Because water is completely rejected by the ISC material, the oil can be recovered for use, a substantial benefit in oil spill cleanup efforts. The new oil cleanup solution uses patented Self-Assembled Monolayer (SAMs) technology.

ISC Chief Executive Officer Mitch Hawkins said, "Interface Sciences Corporation wants to make this highly effective material widely available to help mitigate the environmental and health impacts caused by the approximate 3,000 worldwide annual oil spills, and in particular oil spill damage caused by Hurricane Katrina."

The announcement of this innovation comes about six months ahead of the company's original planned rollout. ISC President Chuck Fishel said, "We were not really set up to produce enough of this exciting material, but thought we had to put it out there given the emergency in the Southeast. We can probably generate enough for use with environmental cleanup of wildlife, but need to find a partner to accelerate the production and distribution of major quantities for large leaks and spills."

Interface Sciences Corporation is a development stage nanotechnology commercialization company holding platform technologies originally developed by a major government laboratory. The company's emphasis is on materials and surface innovation at the nanoscale. It controls several hundred technological applications and works in fields as varied as oil spill remediation, fiber composites and composite structures, computer circuit boards, MEMS, sports equipment, nanoparticle functionalization and paper treatments.

Source: Interface Sciences Corporation