Cotton Products Could Sop Up Oil Spill in U.S.

By Jim.Robinson|June 24, 2010

According to two recent reports, cotton products are being touted as a possible clean-up solution to the massive ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, off the United States’ coastline. Tens of millions of gallons of oil have been gushed into the Gulf since an April 20 explosion at a drilling rig leased by BP.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved Fibertect, a super-absorbent layered cotton product developed by Texas Tech University researcher Seshadri Ramkumar, as a viable product for trapping oil from ocean water.

Ramukumar told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Texas) newspaper that every gram of the multi-layer cotton wipe can absorb up to 20 grams of black crude. The product can also catch noxious fumes emanating from the spill.

According to a Christian Science Monitor report, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a similar product. Their polymer-coated cotton sheets are able to grab and transport oil from water. “The treated fabric can both admit water and repel oil, allowing it to act as a filter rather than a barrier or absorber,” explained researcher Di Gao. “When dipped into the oil-tainted water, a trough made from the polymer-coated cotton keeps the oil in but lets the water flow through. Like a bucket, the cotton trough can be lifted out of the water and its oil transferred to a tanker.”