Plant-inspired material could help in cleaning up oil spills
USC scientists seek solutions to man-made disasters that have devastating environmental and economic consequences
BY Breanne Grady
March 20, 2018
Taking a cue from the structure of leaves, a new USC Viterbi School of Engineering study has fabricated a material that can separate oil and water, which could lead to safer and more efficient methods of cleaning up oil spills.<>/p>
The material also is capable of “microdroplet manipulation,†the transfer of tiny volumes of liquid.
Using 3-D printing, Associate Professor Yong Chen and his research team at USC Viterbi’s Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering have successfully mimicked a biological phenomenon in plant leaves called the “Salvinia effect.†The study examines a floating fern native to South America called Salvinia molesta.
http://news.usc.edu/138600/plant-inspired-material-could-help-in-cleaning-up-oil-spills/
