MRI RAPID: Acquisition of High-Rate Nanomanufacturing System for Accelerated Development of Novel Materials and Processes for Oil Spill Remediation

University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE

Investigators

Abstract

1058522 Dzenis Current methods of oil capture from the ocean surface have proven inadequate in the Gulf of Mexico spill clean-up. Less than a third of the spilled oil has been collected to date. Some of the existing methods such as chemical dispersants might have contributed to pollution. The existing methods and materials will continue to be rendered progressively less effective in the long term clean-up as the oil slick spreads and the local concentration and thickness of oil reduce. There is a pressing need for the development of innovative, rapidly deployable, and highly efficient methods of capturing crude oil capable of capturing thin slicks spread over large areas. UNL proposes to use continuous nanofibers for this purpose. Recently, several nanofilamentary materials have been shown possessing superior oil absorbing properties. Continuous nanofibers can be direct-deposited on and collected from the surface of the ocean. UNL and the PI are among the leaders of continuous nanofibers research and are well positioned to develop novel materials and processes suitable for rapid deployment and capable of producing significant impact on the long-term oil spill remediation. A bottleneck issue for the accelerated research and development in this area is unavailability of high-productivity nanomanufacturing equipment to produce quantities of nanofibers for rapid screening and optimization. The current processes including the processes utilized at UNL produce milligrams to grams of nanofibers per hour. This proposal requests support to acquire a new nanomanufacturing system capable of producing nanofibers with the rates 3-5 orders of magnitude higher.