TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Swarming Robots Autonomously Absorb Hard-to-Reach Oil

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 09-07-10 | Comments

A team of scientists has developed autonomous robots that swarm to collect oil together. Armed with solar cells, GPS and nanowire filters, the robots could quickly clean oil spills.

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Swarming Robots Autonomously Absorb Hard-to-Reach Oil
Recently at Smarter Technology, we've brought you stories on several solutions about cleaning up the oil leftover from the Gulf of Mexico spill�everything from a military decontamination system to biotech solutions like natural fibers. A team of researchers at MIT is working on another promising oil-cleaning technology: an autonomous robot. Called the Seaswarm, the robot combines several promising technologies�including solar cells, GPS, WiFi and a nanowire filter�to become one of the most capable oil-fighting tools out there.

The Seaswarm robot combines several technologies to efficiently collect oil (source: MIT).

A 'Paper Towel' for Oil Spills

The basic technology behind the Seaswarm is a nanotech membrane developed by MIT engineers in 2008. Made of nano-sized wires, the material has the touch and feel of paper, but can absorb up to 20 times its weight of oil and other organic pollutants.

"What we found is that we can make 'paper' from an interwoven mesh of nanowires that is able to selectively absorb hydrophobic liquids�oil-like liquids�from water," said Francesco Stellacci, an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and leader of the work, according to a 2008 MIT press release.

Although it looks like paper, the material can absorb 20 times its weight of oil (source: MIT).

The material consists of spaghettilike strands of nanowires, which have many tiny pores. Coated with a hydrophobic covering, the material does not soak up water, but will absorb all water-repellant substances. "Our material can be left in water a month or two, and when you take it out it's still dry," Stellacci said. "But at the same time, if that water contains some hydrophobic contaminants, they will get absorbed."

The nanowires are made from potassium manganese oxide, a heat-stable material. This property allows the material to be brought to high temperatures at which oil will boil away and condense elsewhere. Both the membrane and the oil can then be reused.

Porous nanowires absorb oil but repel water (source: MIT).

Joerg Lahann of the University of Michigan wrote a positive review of the research: "Stellacci and co-workers have provided an example of a nanomaterial that has been rationally designed to address a major environmental challenge."

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